[Durham INC] Regarding affordable housing in Durham-

Fri Mar 1 05:42:08 EST 2019

Thank you Mrs. Rooney for sharing your accessment on low income housing neighborhoods, as I have many concerns around our assessment within 3 years of the last assessment in neighborhoods facing gentrification and the County of Durham's policy to make more frequent reassessments.

I would love to have real action on a comprehensive sewer and water infrastructure  especially in low income communities as that would be apart of an equitable approach to affordable housing.

I don't defer to the state their are real reliefs we could be talking about and I welcome a solutions driven conversation on it.

Please let me know when you might be available to converse more.

Regards,

DeDreana Freeman
Durham City Council Member
101 City Hall Plaza
(919)972-9313 Cell
(919)560-4333 ext. 10276 office

________________________________
From: Melissa Rooney <mmr121570 at yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2019 5:16:33 PM
To: Reece, Charlie
Cc: Council Members; Steve Schewel; inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net; whhna-list at whhna.org; mschultz at heraldsun.com
Subject: Re: Regarding affordable housing in Durham-

Thanks SO much for that disheartening but very informative response, Charlie. I am so sorry to hear of more hamstringing by the state and expect our local delegation to keep the pressure on, even if it means making legal challenges. It seems incredibly unconstitutional to me to prohibit a community from executing such altruistic and charitable intentions.

That said, you could help lower-income homeowners a great deal by instituting not only structural improvements to their homes, but drainage  improvements to their lots and their communities that prevent further structural damage to their homes. Many Durham residents are living in literal swamps because of the poor infrastructure in their historically low-income neighborhoods.

Some of these properties need commercial concrete pipes installed (I hate to say it, but it’s true). Others need retaining walls. Still others need French drains.

At the very least, the city could require a comprehensive assessment  of the stormwater situation on the property before repairing  houses only to have them succumb to erosion in the future.

Stabilizing the land on which they live, including installing the necessary stormwater infrastructure, would go a long way toward helping our lower-income residents keep their currently affordable homes.

These are neighborhood-wide stormwater problems that can’t be solved with mere cisterns and rain gardens.

XO,
Melissa (Rooney)

www.melissarooneywriting.com<http://www.melissarooneywriting.com>

On Feb 25, 2019, at 8:37 AM, Reece, Charlie <Charlie.Reece at durhamnc.gov<mailto:Charlie.Reece at durhamnc.gov>> wrote:

Ms. Rooney,

Thank you so much for your email. I wanted to reach out to provide you with some additional information about the property tax relief programs you describe.

I agree with you 100% that these tax relief programs should be expanded to allow more Durham residents to participate. The recent valuation conducted by Durham County has only exacerbated the ongoing problems that many Durham residents of all ages and of modest means are having with rising housing costs. Although these problems are felt both by renters and homeowners, the impact on Durham homeowners is especially acute.

Unfortunately, the tax relief programs available to Durham residents are created by the state of North Carolina, not the city of Durham. The city council has no ability to modify these programs to account for the specific needs of folks here in Durham. The income and age eligibility requirements are set by state statute and cannot be modified by local governments.

However, the city council has consistently asked Durham's legislative delegation at the General Assembly to advocate for a broadening of those tax relief programs so that more Durham residents can have access to tax relief. The members of Durham's delegation are fantastic, but I'm sorry to say that, given the current leadership in our state legislature, I cannot predict if or when such changes to the state's property tax relief programs will be forthcoming.

But not all the news is bad on this front. Helping longtime homeowners with home repairs is one important way that local governments *can* help folks stay in their homes, because the inability of homeowners to fund critical repairs is one significant driver of displacement. This year, the city of Durham is providing a tremendous amount of financial support for this much-needed work. And the $95 million bond referendum proposed by Mayor Schewel in his State of the City address will help many more Durham homeowners with home repairs.

I'm sorry I can't bring you better news on this front, but I hope you know that the Durham City Council continues to explore every possible option to help keep Durham homeowners in their homes. If you have additional ideas about how we might do that, I hope you will continue to share those ideas with us because I know we're eager to hear them.

Thanks again for your email -- and for your concern for your neighbors, and for this city we love.

Best regards,

Charlie Reece

Member, Durham City Council

________________________________
From: Melissa Rooney <mmr121570 at yahoo.com<mailto:mmr121570 at yahoo.com>>
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2019 2:26:31 PM
To: Council Members; Steve Schewel
Cc: inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net<mailto:inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net>; whhna-list at whhna.org<mailto:whhna-list at whhna.org>; mschultz at heraldsun.com<mailto:mschultz at heraldsun.com>
Subject: Regarding affordable housing in Durham-

Hello Mayor Schewel, City Council Members, and cc’d Durham residents.

Please consider this before moving forward with affordable housing plans:

Durham’s current property tax relief programs only offer assistance to people who are 1) older than 65 or 2) disabled veterans, and then only if the *combined* family income is less than $30,200.00 (!).

This seems to be aimed at attrition: once old and/or infirm residents die, their houses will be sold and gentrified; but there’s no help for those young enough to remain an active part of their communities for the foreseeable future.

I know many people who are younger than 65 and have owned their Durham homes for 10 plus years but who may not be able to hold them much longer due to property re-evaluations and tax hikes.  We need to help these people stay where they are, rather than tax them out of their currently affordable homes, giving them little choice but to move into newly constructed ‘affordable housing’ that will not have the same diversity, services, environment and quality of life that they are finally enjoying in their historically lower-income neighborhoods right now.

Here’s the link to Durham’s tax relief options: https://www.dconc.gov/government/departments-f-z/tax-administration/property-tax-relief-programs/property-tax-relief-for-homeowners

Please amend this situation and help lower income (income threshold should also be much higher) Durham residents who own their homes *right now* stay where they are *right now*.

Sincerely,
Melissa (Rooney)
Durham resident and homeowner since 2002

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush 😉.

www.melissarooneywriting.com<http://www.melissarooneywriting.com>

On Feb 19, 2019, at 9:12 PM, Steve Schewel <campaign at stevefordurham.com<mailto:campaign at stevefordurham.com>> wrote:

State of the City Address

Dear Friends,

In my State of the City address last night, I laid out a vision for how we will go into Durham's 150th year working together to make the city we love a city for all.

We are a welcoming city, a diverse city, and a prosperous city determined that our prosperity be shared, a city challenged to truly live up to our creed, to our belief that we can be a progressive beacon for the South and the nation.

You can watch my full address outlining the enormous strides we have made together over the past year and looking ahead to an ambitious agenda for our future. Click here<https://stevefordurham.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0ff1ce99949c07c9639fd68c0&id=312f51fd83&e=2364e4f48b> to read the text version of my address.

[https://gallery.mailchimp.com/video_thumbnails_new/7010f4732a3ab495139f218832aeb8e4.png]             <https://stevefordurham.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0ff1ce99949c07c9639fd68c0&id=5a11967d50&e=2364e4f48b>

We are at a pivotal moment for our city. We are challenged now more than ever before to live up to our belief that Durham can be a progressive beacon for the South and the nation. I look forward to continuing to work alongside you to make our vision for shared prosperity in Durham a reality.

Yours,
Steve Schewel

This email was sent to mmr121570 at yahoo.com<mailto:mmr121570 at yahoo.com>
why did I get this?<https://stevefordurham.us16.list-manage.com/about?u=0ff1ce99949c07c9639fd68c0&id=0fa8e6ff2c&e=2364e4f48b&c=499754796e>    unsubscribe from this list<https://stevefordurham.us16.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=0ff1ce99949c07c9639fd68c0&id=0fa8e6ff2c&e=2364e4f48b&c=499754796e>    update subscription preferences<https://stevefordurham.us16.list-manage.com/profile?u=0ff1ce99949c07c9639fd68c0&id=0fa8e6ff2c&e=2364e4f48b>
Steve Schewel for Mayor · 2101 W Club Blvd · Durham, NC 27705 · USA

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.deltaforce.net/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20190301/dbc17526/attachment.html>