MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES CREATION OF FIRST CITY-FUNDED VOUCHER PROGRAM

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES CREATION OF FIRST CITY-FUNDED VOUCHER PROGRAM Boston to issue its own vouchers for rental assistance for the first time in City history

BOSTON - Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced tonight in his State of the City address that Boston will create its first City-funded rental voucher program to subsidize the rents of those with most need, including families experiencing homelessness not eligible for the State's Emergency Assistance, formerly chronically homeless individuals, and extremely low-income elderly and disabled households.  "For the first time in Boston's history, we will issue city-funded rental vouchers, so more low-income families can be stable and secure," said Mayor Walsh. "By using every tool in our toolbox and coming up with creative ways to turn our assets into immediate sources of revenue, we will be able to expand opportunity for more Boston families."    This new voucher program announced tonight will be similar to the federal Section 8 program but funded by annual City of Boston operating funds. Over the next five years, the City estimates the program will provide hundreds of vouchers, filling the financial gap many individuals and families face in Boston's housing market. Voucher funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for vouchers is expected to continue to decline over the same period of time. "We commend Mayor Walsh for his bold and historic commitment to create a City-funded rent subsidy program," said Michael Kane, spokesperson for the City Rent Subsidy Coalition and the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants, which advocated for the plan. "The pilot program announced tonight could keep hundreds of people facing displacement or on the streets in permanent homes. We look forward to working with the Mayor to implement the pilot and expand funding to address Boston's housing emergency." The City will start working with housing partners to develop the program and explore different types of rental assistance such as the existing Boston Housing Authority (BHA) Tenant-Based Voucher Program, Project-Based Voucher Program and Moderate Rehabilitation Program, to work in coordination with other affordable housing programs in the City and meet the goals outlined in Mayor Walsh's housing plan.  "This is another great tool in the City of Boston's ever-expanding suite of innovations to create more opportunities for affordable housing, and one that I'm very pleased to see," said Janet Frazier, President/CEO of Maloney Properties. "I'm hopeful that this kind of voucher will give tenants who need more assistance in paying rent the capacity to stay in their homes. As a property manager for thousands of affordable units in Boston, I thank Mayor Walsh for his continuing focus on making affordability a priority."  The BHA, through its Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8, provides rent subsidies to assist eligible low-income families obtain decent, safe, and affordable housing. Families can select housing within a neighborhood of their choice in privately-owned housing and receive rental assistance, called vouchers, which allow families to pay a reasonable share of their income toward rent while the program the BHA pays the other portion. Most BHA vouchers, including Housing Choice Vouchers, are funded by the federal government. BHA also administers vouchers through the state-funded Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program. In the last few decades, Congress has severely cut its annual investment in Public Housing capital funds, which traditionally help housing authorities to maintain their existing public housing units. Even with modest increases in funding for the Section 8 program, this overall federal disinvestment in affordable housing that has forced the BHA and other agencies to convert some public housing into project-based Section 8-subsidized units, and to rely on outside investment to renovate and replace older units. Meanwhile, the need for affordable housing in Boston has only grown. BHA maintains a waitlist of more than 47,000 families who have applied for one of its affordable housing programs. Last month, the BHA was awarded $1.8 million from HUD to fund 139 housing vouchers for residents with disabilities, homeless families and chronically homeless individuals. In April, the BHA was able to issue 1,000 new rental housing vouchers after it secured approximately $28 million in additional funding for vouchers by demonstrating the need for a higher Fair Market Rent (FMR), which sets the payment standard housing authorities can set for voucher-subsidized rents and determines subsidy levels for voucher holders. These vouchers increased the BHA's portfolio of vouchers to 13,500. "A housing voucher gave me a chance to secure a safe, stable and healthy home environment for my children when we were struggling with homelessness, and gave me the space to pursue rewarding work in early childhood education," said voucher holder Paulina Morillo, a resident of Dorchester. "This new voucher program has the potential to help many other families like mine." Through increases in the City's operating and capital budgets, the investment announced today will double the City's current funding in affordable housing to $100 million. Additional revenue will be generated by selling the Lafayette Garage, as well as working with the Massachusetts Legislature to approve a transfer fee of up to 2 percent on private real estate sales over $2 million in the City of Boston. These combined investments will increase the available funds for affordable housing to five times the current funding levels. The City-funded rental voucher program announced tonight builds on the Mayor's comprehensive approach to prevent displacement and end homelessness. Through the efforts of Boston's Way Home, Mayor Walsh's initiative to end veteran and chronic homelessness, Boston has made significant progress in preventing and ending homelessness among individual adults, including ending chronic veteran homelessness. Through this initiative, over 900 chronically homeless individuals have been housed, representing more than 5,800 cumulative years of homelessness ended. As a result, chronic homelessness has been reduced by 19 percent during a time that there have been increases in chronic homelessness nationally. Furthermore, the City's partners housed over 1,200 homeless veterans and reduced homelessness among Veterans by 36 percent. Since Mayor Walsh took office, the City of Boston has built over 60 percent of the new homes in Greater Boston, with 20 percent of them being deed-restricted for low- and middle-income households. Boston has surpassed 32,000 units permitted under the administration's housing plan, including over 6,200 deed-restricted units and 500 units for senior housing. More than one thousand Boston Housing Authority units have been renovated and the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) has assisted over 600 homebuyers in purchasing their homes.

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED INVESTMENT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED INVESTMENT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

BOSTON - Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - Building on the Walsh Administration's commitment to create and preserve housing that meets the needs of a growing city, Mayor Martin J. Walsh pledged to dedicate $500 million over the next five years to create thousands of homes across Boston affordable to households with low and middle incomes tonight. These new investments will support the City's goals of creating rental and homeownership opportunities, preserving public housing units, and establishing the first city-funded voucher program.   "Housing is the biggest economic challenge our residents face," said Mayor Walsh. "We know we have been making progress, but rents and home prices are still too high for too many people. These investments are transformative and I invite housing advocates and residents to help us bring them to life. At a time when our federal government is stepping away from creating and preserving affordable housing, Boston is continuing to step up and make investments in housing because we believe housing is not a commodity, but our community."  Through increases in the City's operating and capital budgets, the investment announced tonight will double the City's current funding in affordable housing to $100 million. Additional revenue will be generated by selling the Lafayette Garage, as well as working with the Massachusetts Legislature to approve a transfer fee of up to 2 percent on private real estate sales over $2 million in the City of Boston. These combined investments will increase the available funds for affordable housing to five times current funding levels over the next five years. "We applaud Mayor Walsh for his leadership and commitment to affordable housing," said Rachel Heller, CEO of Citizens' Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA).  "By setting goals, creating a plan, tracking progress, and committing resources, the City is successfully creating more opportunities for people across incomes to have homes they can afford in the neighborhoods they choose." As the City continues to encourage using public transit, biking, and walking as preferred modes of transportation, Mayor Walsh identified the Lafayette Garage located at 1 Avenue de Lafayette in Downtown Boston as a means to generate additional funding for affordable housing. The proposal to sell the garage will be presented to the City Council in the coming months as a unique opportunity to turn a City asset into an immediate and impactful investment through one-time revenue from the sale.  These investments will support the City in achieving its housing goals:  Create and preserve 1,000 rental units, including senior housing production across all income levels, and expand the Acquisition Opportunity Program by targeting mid-size and large acquisitions and helping development partners compete with speculative buyers to prevent displacement Create 500 new homeownership units for low- and middle-income households and support 1,000 new low- and middle-income homebuyers with down payment assistance and low-interest mortgages  Create and preserve 3,000 units of public housing by providing subsidy funding to help fill the gap in Boston Housing Authority (BHA) pipeline projects, and renovate Boston's federal elderly/disabled portfolio to preserve this housing resource for future generations Establish the first City of Boston voucher program to provide hundreds of city-funded vouchers to those with the most need, including families experiencing homelessness not eligible for the State's Emergency Assistance, formerly chronically homeless individuals, and extremely low-income elderly and disabled households Create or accelerate the creation of 1,500 units by investing in large housing funds and developer capacity building, including: Provide critical seed funding to create a revolving, low-cost loan fund to support the acquisition of key vacant or underutilized properties for low- and middle-income housing, while seeking additional resources from businesses and foundations Establish an infrastructure fund to subsidize development costs in return for affordable units for low- and middle-income households Establish a fund for pre-development activity and support for local Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises In the coming months, the Walsh Administration will work with the City Council to complete the sale of the Lafayette Garage and to advocate for passage of the Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition signed and submitted to the Massachusetts Legislature last month. In addition, the Administration will be working with the City Council, the Mayor's Housing Task Force and other housing partners to refine the priorities and programmatic structures of these proposed investments.  "Mayor Walsh's aggressiveness in addressing our housing crisis is very much needed and much appreciated," said Thomas Callahan, executive director of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance. "MAHA looks forward to working with the Walsh Administration to put these targeted resources to good use, including closing the racial wealth gap through increased affordable homeownership opportunities for first-time and first-generation homebuyers in Boston."   Since Mayor Walsh took office, the City of Boston has built over 65 percent of the new homes in Greater Boston, with 20 percent of new homes being affordable housing, according to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Boston has surpassed 32,000 units permitted under the administration's housing plan, including over 6,200 affordable housing units and over 500 units for senior housing. More than 1,000 BHA units have been renovated and the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) has assisted over 600 homebuyers in purchasing their homes.  "Bravo to the Mayor for his leadership in closing the huge market gap that prevents older adults from having the opportunity to age in their community, which is the key to healthy aging," said Amy Schectman, president & CEO of 2Life Communities. "We look forward to working with the City to bring these opportunities to light for all older adults."    "Far too many older adults struggle to find the housing and services they need to age successfully at a price they can afford," said Linda Couch, vice president for Housing Policy, LeadingAge. "Our organization which is the nation's most trusted voice for aging with 6,000 mission-driven member organizations, is thrilled to learn about Mayor Walsh's proposals which represent a huge leap forward in making housing with services available to all older adults. Kudos to Boston's mayor for making older adults such a high priority."    Boston's strategy of increasing overall supply of housing units is beginning to show a stabilizing effect on the housing market. Year over year rental listing data from 2017 and 2018 in Boston shows rents increasing by 2.7 percent in older housing stock, and 3.3 percent in all housing, including newly-built stock.  Boston has been trending away from large year-over-year increases in rent costs for several quarters as development catches up with demand, creating more rental opportunities across the City. This trend continued in 2019: a year-over-year comparison of the first two quarters in 2018 and 2019 show rent prices incrementally increasing by 1.7 percent in older housing stock, with a 1.5 percent increase in all housing stock. "My wife and I work hard, but we didn't think we could afford a home to raise our three sons and take care of my in-laws," said Lamarana Bah, who immigrated 15 years ago from Sierra Leone. "Mayor Walsh's Neighborhood Homes Initiative helped us with our down payment and mortgage, and now we own our home in Dorchester. I want everyone to know about these opportunities. Our dream came true and that's why we believe in Boston."

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES EAST BOSTON TRANSPORTATION ACTION COMMITTEE IN STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES EAST BOSTON TRANSPORTATION ACTION COMMITTEE IN STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

BOSTON - Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - Building on his commitment to ensuring Boston's streets are safe, equitable and reliable for all, Mayor Martin J. Walsh during his State of the City address tonight announced the creation of an East Boston Transportation Action Committee.  "This year, we will build on our community planning in East Boston, launching a Transportation Action Committee to address the traffic challenges there," said Mayor Walsh. "Transportation is crucial to ensuring our residents can get to their homes, their jobs and their schools, and my Administration will continue working hard to create the best transportation options for residents in Boston. I look forward to working with the East Boston community to make transportation better for all." Important projects under consideration include improving bus reliability on Meridian Street, designing Bennington Street to be safer and more bike friendly, and reimagining Day Square with additional public space. In his speech, Mayor Walsh announced new efforts to reduce congestion and improve in Boston, including launching a Transportation Action Committee in East Boston to address the unique circumstances in the neighborhood. The committee will include local residents, advocates and stakeholders. Since launching Boston's safety plan, Vision Zero, the City has cut fatalities on Boston roads by half. Mayor Walsh again called for Boston to have a seat on the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board, noting Boston is the largest payer into the MBTA--but doesn't have a voice at the table. In addition to this advocacy, Mayor Walsh urged Boston's partners at the Massachusetts Legislature to take up transportation financing, and enable Boston to use Regional Ballot Initiatives (RBI) to fund its transportation initiatives.  Last year, the Boston Transportation Department resurfaced over 30 miles of roads, repainted over 1,000 crosswalks, rebuilt sidewalks, installed safety signage all throughout Boston, cut the ribbon on North Square in the North End, and broke ground on new streets and sidewalks in Roxbury. The Boston Transportation Department has also worked to improve active transportation options, improving bike connections from Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, and the South End to downtown. Additional work includes rethinking how our connections operate, designing bridges in Charlestown, South Boston, Hyde Park and Long Island that work for everyone.  In November, Mayor Walsh announced a significant milestone reached on the implementation of the City's Go Boston 2030 transportation plan, with more than half of the 58 projects and policies identified in the plan currently underway. The comprehensive plan was unveiled in 2017 and is designed to provide, by the year 2030, a safe, reliable and equitable transportation system that also supports Boston's climate goals. In just two years, the Boston Transportation Department and its partners have made significant progress on their planning goals, designed to increase safety, accessibility, equity and affordability in transportation for all residents. Twent