Addison County Rep Sponsors Workforce Housing Bill

Fred Baser of Bristol is sponsoring a bill this session to fund planning grants for and provide regulatory benefits to two "workforce housing" pilot projects.  The bill is targeted at rental and/or ownership housing for families earning approximately 100% to 150% of Area Median Income, or $73,300 for a family of four in Addison County.  

A hypothetical median family of four earning $73,300 annually could afford a home purchase price of $255,000 with $19,000 in cash at closing, or monthly rent of $1,833 including utilities.  The median family does not necessarily have four members (according to the ACS, the median family has 2.39 members), and in fact median household income as calculated by the American Community Survey is closer to $59,000 in Addison County.  This household could afford a home purchase of just over $200,000, and a monthly rent of about $1,500.  That's about 115% of Fair Market Rent.  

Housing affordability is an important issue and it's an indicator that things have reached fever pitch when families at 100-150% of AMI are feeling the pinch.  Consider a working family with two full-time minimum wage earners, whose annual income would be approximately $40,000.  That family could afford to pay roughly $1,000/mo in rent for their "workforce housing," or just below median rent for a 2br apartment in Addison County.    

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Home price calculation from www.housingdata.org