W.H.A.T. Workforce Action Housing Team Planning District 16 January 2007

Workforce Housing Action Team ► Who - W.H.A.T. ► What - Strives to develop affordable housing for regional workforce ► When - Ongoing ► Where - Regionally ► How - By forging partnerships between local government, regional civic organizations and regional builders and developers

F ree L ance - S tar 1/10/2007 ► 3,610 Homes for Sale Average Sales Price: $426,236 ► 524 Rental Properties Average Rental Price: $1,599 Current Home Price Ranges for Free Lance - Star distribution area

Median Home Prices- 01/06-09/06 ► Virginia Virginia ► VAAlexandria$805,000 VA ► VAVienna$754,372 VA ► VALeesburg$598,750 VA ► VAWoodbridge$506,712 VA ► VAVirginiaBeach$355,949 VA ► VARichmond$346,850 VA ► VAWinchester$346,250 VA ► VARoanoke/Blacksburg$275,210 VA ► VALynchburg$262,325 VA

Live Where you Work ► Our hard working county employees, teachers, and young professionals can’t afford to live in the communities they serve. Planning District 16 risks losing essential services, economic vitality and great neighbors.

Spotsylvania City of Fred. King George CarolineOrange Firefighter$35,517$37,369*$25,815$33,424 EMT I $35,517$37,369*$25,815$33,424 Police Officer $37,293$37,369*$32,170$31,832 Teacher$35,000*$35,250$34,500$35,978 Pre School Teacher $19,000*$15,000$15,000* RN$41,000*$43,000$41,000$36,000 LPN$21,000*$22,000*$19,000 * Info not available for survey 12/06 - Stafford County did not return data Entry Level/ First Year Pay Scales – PD 16

Local Employers ► GEICO Internships/ Entry level positions Claims Service Rep (CSR) $25,000-$28,000 Inbound Sales $30,000-$35,000 *AS OF 1/9/07 HOTJOBS.COM * More than 3,500 people work for GEICO in Stafford County, in a spacious office building completed in 1994 and the National Print Mail Facility completed in 1998.

Local Employers Intuit Internships/Entry level Customer Service $22,000-$28,000 Intuit Sales Intern $28,000-$30,000 Intuit Inc (software- Quicken, Turbo Tax) 110 Juliad Ct. Fredericksburg, VA, Currently employs Over 240 employees in their call center

Various Local Employers/ Free Lance Star 1/14/07 – Full Time Entry Level EmployerPositionSalary PW County Grounds Maint. $30,431 Germanna Community Coll. Education Support Specialist $23,000-$34,000 Clean Machine Car Wash Asst. Manager $25,000 Stafford County Deputy Court Clerk $23,264 University of Mary Wash. Library Intern Asst. $27,577

Mortgage Payments ► FNMA & Freddie Mac have set the qualifying standards at 28/36% for debt to income calculations. This means no more than 28% of your gross monthly income should be going towards your total mortgage payment. (PITI) Gross income28% of monthly36% of monthly $20,000$467$600 $30,000$700$900 $40,000$933$1,200 $50,000$1,167$1,500

County Employee – Example City of Fredericksburg –Firefighter/EMT/Police Officer ► As an entry level employee of the city, this applicant’s first year income would be $37, ► Gross monthly income = $ ► 28% of gross monthly income = $ for PITI (principal, interest, taxes & insurance)

PITI Example ► Based off the previous employee - 30 yr fixed rate loan at 6% P*I $ P*I $ Taxes $ Taxes $ Insurance$ Insurance$ PITI$ PITI$ This employee would qualify for a maximum mortgage of $122, $122,

Housing Facts ► This employee could not purchase any home within PD 16. ► This employee would have trouble finding a home to rent within PD 16 Average Home Price- $426, Median Rental Price- $1599/month

Commuting Facts Commuting Facts Some area workers are now forced to live outside our Planning District- forced to commute from Tappahannock & Westmoreland & outlying areas. strains our road systems response time for emergency personnel high employee turnover costs to recruit & retrain new employees "We basically recruit teachers from eight to 10 states who we want to retain because of the investment we place in them as new teachers," Sara Branner – the spokesperson for Spotsylvania Schools said. "Teachers who want to make Spotsylvania their place of long-term employment really do desire, we found out, to invest in housing rather than renting."

Fannie Mae- Workforce Housing ► Who Needs Affordable Housing? ► Let us consider how public policies and discussions characterize housing needs. First we had "public housing"—operated by the government, with some infamous and costly failures—a term that now carries a lot of negative baggage. Currently, the emphasis is on "affordable housing," which is supposed to mean privately provided housing affordable to the masses—but this concept seems to have gotten stuck with the subsidized housing tar baby. Inevitably, subsidized housing will continue to be needed for the lowest-income populations—but in fact, much of the housing constructed today is not affordable to most middle-income households. Often overlooked are the housing needs of productive individuals or families whose life-cycle situation or income, or both, limit their housing options in the current marketplace. The term "workforce housing" is gaining popularity in reference to school teachers, public safety professionals, medical technicians, and the like. It does not, however, include the fastest- growing group: retired households on fixed incomes, who can be labeled collectively as "pensioners." Thus, focusing attention on "workforce and pensioner" housing needs may be the most effective communications approach to get the public to say "Yes, in my backyard" to affordable housing.

Workforce Housing Crisis ► “When a police officer cannot live in the community he protects, when a teacher must travel an hour each way to school or when a firefighter has to rent and never own a home, there’s a problem. These are also the signs of a workforce housing crisis.” by Frank Spadea- Franciscus Homes by Frank Spadea- Franciscus Homes Virginia passed an Affordable Dwelling Unit law in the late 1990’s giving Local governments the power to enact workforce housing programs And yet to date-few counties in Virginia have enacted this program

Fairfax County Virginia- Affordable Dwelling Unit Program ► ► In 1990, Fairfax County, Virginia, adopted its mandatory inclusionary zoning law called the Affordable Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance. It requires that 12.5% of for-sale units must be affordable for families under 70 percent of Area Median Income; 6.25% of rentals in garden apartments must also been affordable. (High-rise apartments are exempt from inclusionary requirements.) ► ► Moreover, like Montgomery County, builders must sell one-third of the ADUs to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority in order for benefits to reach families below 50 percent of AMI. Both re-sale prices and rents are controlled for thirty years. To date, private, for-profit homebuilders have delivered over 2,500 ADUs.

“The House Next Door” MD/VA Study ► This study reviewed every real estate transaction in fourteen counties in MD & VA from 1992 through Overall, they found that there were no significant differences in price trends between the non subsidized units and the market as a whole- whether measured by zip codes or county wide. Further, they found that even homes located immediately adjacent to a subsidized unit were unaffected. Study can be found at

WHAT interviewed planning administrators in PD 16 ► THERE IS LITTLE RECOGNITION OF AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING ISSUE IN THE AREA ► THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS OR REQUIREMENTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING ► THERE IS LITTLE SUPPORT FOR ADDRESSING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Where do you come in? Realtors - Time and Resources Statistics Statistics 1. Number of people who can’t afford housing 2. How far out into other counties are you now taking clients to qualify for homes 3. How do you perceive the slow down/ high prices knocking out section of home buyers/ Homes prices climbing faster than salaries/ etc. 4. Has the number of employees transferring into the PD 16 area slowed down- ( 2-3 years of statistics). Number of rentals versus home buyers.

Where do you come in? ► GWRC - Time and Resources Commitment from GWRC to take this forum and put it at top of their agenda for Workforce Housing needs to be addressed now. Commitment from GWRC to take this forum and put it at top of their agenda for Workforce Housing needs to be addressed now.

Where do you come in? Chamber of Commerce- Time and Resources Commitment 1. Develop a Workforce Housing Column in newsletter 2. Develop a Housing Forum Committee 3. Host a Housing Day Forum 4. Provide statistics on local area employees 1. Do any area employers offer home purchase benefits 2. Do any area employers offer relocation pkgs to new employees

Where do you come in? Fredericksburg Regional Alliance- Time and Resources Statistics/ Commitment 1. Economic Development-Number of employers moving into area but hesitant due to high home prices 2. To develop a regional committee to get behind a Challenge Grant

Challenge Grant ► Model a Challenge Grant after Fairfax Counties program. “Live Where You Work” Challenge Grant  In 1995 the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors allocated $1,000, to the Housing Trust Fund as a Challenge Grant, with $500, earmarked for employee homeownership for moderate income county & school employees seeking to purchase their first homes. To date 26 2 nd trust loans have been made to employees under this program.

Action Steps WE all need to Take ► Address Concerns  Most people- including decision makers- have limited information on contemporary affordable housing.  Educate early and often  Accurate information is important  Humanize the object of concern- put a human face on the proposed development

Article from Freelance Star 10/26/06 Tricord Helps Teachers/ County Employees Purchase Homes ► By KELLY HANNON (Excerpts from this article) ► Tricord Homes will sell 42 three-bedroom townhouses at reduced cost to school teachers and local government employees. These homes will sell for $205, ► Teachers and government workers in Orange and Spotsylvania County may benefit the most, given the subdivision's location.. ► The 2005 median home value in Spotsylvania was $293,100. Tricord has already stepped up to the plate to help local employees purchase homes

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