City Council to give $2 million to help Columbus State students struggling with housing

When TaVonna Wilson decided to enroll at Columbus State Community College in 2020, almost two decades after graduating from high school, her housing situation was top of mind.

"How do I go to school, work full time and find safe, affordable housing for my girls?" Wilson asked herself.

Wilson was able to get help through the Success Bridge Housing Stabilization program, which supports Columbus State students who face housing insecurity or homelessness. In February 2021, Wilson and her daughters moved into a three-bedroom apartment through the program, removing a burden that stops many college students from completing their degrees.


Affordable housing tax credit, single-family housing tax credit programs signed into Ohio budget

Two new housing tax credit programs are launching as Ohio grapples with affordable housing.

The state housing tax credit program and the single-family housing tax credit program are part of Ohio’s two-year, $191 billion budget that Gov. Mike DeWine signed earlier this month. 

“Governor DeWine recognizes the need to have a holistic statewide housing strategy that addresses affordable housing and housing for our growing workforce,” DeWine spokesperson Dan Tierney said in email.

There is a shortage of about 270,000 affordable and available rental units to the 448,000 extremely low-income households in Ohio — meaning there are only 40 affordable units for every 100 households, according to a March report from Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). 

“We know there is a need for housing and both of them will help create more housing for Ohioans,” said Ohio Housing Finance Authority’s Spokesperson Penny Martin. 

Full-time workers need to make at least $19.09 an hour to afford a 2-bedroom apartment in Ohio — a $2.04 increase from last year, according to a joint report from the NLIHC and COHHIO. 


More people in Ohio not met with equal housing opportunities

By Robert “Bo” Chilton and Stephen Torsell

Columbus has seen boom times recently – at least for some. Population in Columbus has exploded in the last two decades – and it’s not expected to stop anytime soon. Given the enormous investments by Intel and other major companies, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission expects about 726,000 new residents in the region by 2050.

But that has not spelled good times for all. The influx of people has not been met with an equal influx of new housing options, particularly for people of limited means. This crunch has meant many working people have to stretch to be able to find a place to live. According to the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, over 50,000 households in Franklin County are paying more than half of their income in housing costs.

Our agencies saw the impact of this tenuous situation as we managed emergency rental assistance programs during the pandemic. Tens of thousands of our neighbors sought eviction relief and, even today, 6,000 residents per month continue to visit the Rentful614 eviction prevention hub for help saving their home. If those were a physical queue of people, instead of online visitors, the line for help would stretch from the courthouse doors to old Cooper Stadium on the Hilltop and it would take an hour just to walk to the end of it.

But we do more than just manage crises. Community development corporations and community action agencies work deeply in neighborhoods to improve people’s lives. Our organizations build and manage affordable housing, provide financial education, and provide rental and utility relief for families in hard times. We seek to change the underlying conditions that make housing so unstable for too many people in our region.

But our efforts have received too little support in the statehouse. The Senate’s original budget contained many provisions that would have done real harm to our efforts. Thankfully, the Senate’s omnibus bill reinstated a much-needed investment in new affordable housing that was supported by both the Governor and the state House. The Senate’s amended budget also removed a problematic proposal that would have limited property tax relief for new and rehabbed duplexes. But these positive changes are significantly blunted by an extremely harmful provision that remains.

The Senate’s bill abolishes the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA), the state’s independent, professionally-managed housing finance authority, and replaces it with an office within the Department of Development. Every state has a housing finance agency, which allocates federal tax credits to affordable housing developments in their state. Investors from around the country purchase these tax credits, and the proceeds are invested into the housing development. Tax credits fetch different prices in different states, depending on market conditions, and – importantly – the predictability of how the housing finance agency will distribute the credits.

OHFA has been recognized nationally as a high-performing housing finance authority, in part because its independent structure creates predictability for housing developers and investors. This has helped create solid demand for tax credits in Ohio, which attracts much-needed private investment into affordable housing development.

The Senate proposal would remove a number of the tools that make OHFA effective and predictable, and would open the agency to new political headwinds that it is largely shielded from today. The cost of uncertainty in this case is not just added bureaucratic headaches – it could lead tax credit investors to invest in other states with more certain returns. This would cost Ohio real dollars – dollars we cannot afford to lose.

As Central Ohio prepares for another wave of new arrivals, we must be moving full steam ahead to build housing that is affordable to people of all incomes. Local community development organizations and affordable housing developers are already facing many headwinds to meet the challenge before us. We need the state as a partner in addressing these challenges – and for that, we need a strong, independent Ohio Housing Finance Agency. We are asking Ohio legislators and the Governor to reject this provision in the Senate budget so that our community can meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Robert “Bo” Chilton is CEO of IMPACT Community Action and Stephen Torsell is Executive Director of Homes on the Hill Community Development Corporation. Both sit on the Board of Directors of the Ohio CDC Association

Columbus, Franklin County get over $120 million windfall in federal rental assistance

Central Ohio is suddenly swimming in a pool of emergency rental assistance cash due to the Biden administration's reallocation of unused federal COVID-19 relief funds to fight evictions.

Since the U.S. Treasury began the reallocation in late January, Columbus and Franklin County received over $120 million combined — a windfall so large that officials are quietly scrambling to figure out what to do with it all.

"It's huge; it's just monumental," said Carlie J. Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio. "The amount of resources that Columbus and Franklin County got combined is more than anywhere else in the country. Our central Ohio region got more resources than all of California put together and all of New York (state) put together."


Is $1,933 monthly for rent cheap? It's ludicrous to call Columbus affordable

In an article published online March 21, the Columbus Dispatch cited a Realtor.com study that asserted Columbus is the second-most-affordable large city in the country for renters and that we should be willing to accept $1,933 per-month rent as “affordable.”

On behalf of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, I disagree.

Emphatically.

As Mayor Andrew Ginther, the Dispatch Editorial Board, and many others with actual, on the ground experience in central Ohio noted recently, the housing burden thousands of our neighbors face is real and it is growing.

Expecting workers earning less than $15 per hour, let alone retirees, to fork over three-quarters of their income for housing is ludicrous. Calling it “affordable” considerably misses the mark.

The demand for affordable housing is at an all-time high and far exceeds the number of units being built or preserved as affordable in the region and throughout Ohio.

The study came to what we feel are erroneous conclusions by assuming that renters would have the same median income as homeowners. They clearly don’t. Other, more reliable, studies show only 30 affordable housing units are available for every 100 extremely low-income households in the greater Columbus area.

Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio,estimates 54,000 low- and moderate-income households in Franklin County pay more than half their income towards housing costs. A Building Industry Association study from 2020 – before the region’s welcomed job gains were announced – concluded that we need to build 14,000 to 21,000 new homes per year just to keep up with growth.

Yet I believe Columbus is poised for extraordinary success to overcome these challenges.

Ginther is leading a housing strategy, Columbus City Council is advancing legislative solutions, leaders across the region are uniting behind a housing coalition, and state officials are crafting powerful housing incentives, such as a new Workforce Housing Credit that will help build “missing middle” apartments that cater to the employees of our future and their families.

We cannot be complacent. With growth coming to Central Ohio, more housing—and more affordable housing—is essential.

As Ginther noted, “as we grow, housing must be the priority, not an afterthought.”

Two decades ago, Austin, Seattle, and Nashville were trendy communities with affordable homes and a wait-and-see attitude. Unfortunately, they let the opportunity to promote safe, quality and affordable housing that serves a range of incomes slip away. We simply cannot make that same mistake.

Together, as a region, we must raise the resources to expand affordability, modernize our land use and zoning laws to grow our homes at the same pace we’re growing our economy, help the next generation unlock the power of homeownership, and ensure that the most vulnerable among us always have a place to call home.

Bob Bitzenhofer is chair of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting and promoting housing affordability across the region.

Central Ohioans being 'priced out' of homes; Record number of evictions in Franklin County

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A record number of evictions were filed in Franklin County in 2022, with almost 21,000 people losing their homes.

Michael Wilkos, senior vice president of community impact with the United Way of Central Ohio, said that number is up 41% from 2021 when 13,500 eviction complaints were filed.

He said city leaders should be concerned.


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Officials work to help Ohio families sacrificing to have housing

Finding affordable housing is becoming increasingly challenging for some Ohioans. Mike Kallmeyer sat down with Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, to learn more about the barriers families face with housing.

“It’s terrifying, if you are paying more than half of your income towards housing you are by definition sacrificing something for that,” Boos said.

Those sacrifices often include adequate food, medical care, or time with family because of a parent working several jobs. Boos also talked with Kallmeyer about immediate and long-term solutions to affordable housing.

“I think that this is a really scary spot to be in as a country. We have never been this far in the hole,” she said.

Despite challenges, Boos described hope for central Ohio because of a bond investment supported by Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther.


Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio names new board chairman

The Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio (AHACO) selected Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority vice president of planning and development Bob Bitzenhofer as the alliance’s new chair of its board of directors.

Bitzenhofer replaces previous AHACO Board Chair Michelle Heritage, who retired last year as CEO of the Community Shelter Board.

The alliance also announced:

  • E.J. Thomas, the AHACO’s founding chair and president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity – MidOhio, will serve as the AHACO board’s vice-chair.

  • Leah Evans, president and CEO of Homeport, will serve as the AHACO board’s secretary.

  • Amy Rosenthal, vice president of affordable housing at National Church Residences, will assume the role of AHACO’s treasurer.

  • Impact Community Action (IMPACT) CEO Bo Chilton and Creative Housing | Creative Renovations CEO Cristy “Critty” Buenconsejo have been selected as new directors to AHACO’s nine-member board.

  • Columbus-based nonprofit Homes for Families also has joined AHACO as a new member, bringing AHACO’s total roster to 29 organizations.

AHACO members represent the continuum of local and national housing experts including homeless advocates, emergency service providers, housing developers, homeownership proponents, lenders, and the philanthropic community.


Voters Approved Millions for Affordable Housing. Advocates Say Congress Should Do the Same.

Voters in Colorado and nine cities across the county approved housing affordability measures in November. The efforts sought to finance the construction of affordable housing, preserve existing rental properties and support renters.

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Columbus, Ohio, voters OK’d $200 million to go toward the building of more affordable rentals, efforts to house and assist the homeless and the preservation of existing affordable housing, as well as funds to make homeownership more affordable in the area.

“These bond issues are one way to address [affordable housing], but they’re also a political indication of the degree to which voters recognize there’s a problem that has to be solved,” said David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference. “When we look at the broad range of proposals that have been approved, I think we also can see a signal that people get it. There’s a problem. And we’re going to have to pay to help fix it and it’s not going to fix itself now.”

Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, said that inflation has created an “immediate need” for the affordable housing bonds. People are overcrowding their apartments to cover rent and the length of stay in homeless shelters is getting longer as families have nowhere to go, Boos said.

“The way that inflation is pinching everybody’s budget is making construction and building for housing demand harder and harder to do. So there’s an immediate need,” she said.


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