by iwd Tina | Jan 24, 2024 | Housing News
On January 24th, Governor Healey revealed the FY2025 budget proposal of $56.1 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, focusing on investments in education, infrastructure, and housing.
Revenue & Budget:
This budget represents an increase of 2.9% from the previous fiscal year (FY24), reflecting restrained revenue growth. The $56.1 billion budget allocates full funding for the Student Opportunity Act, boosts local aid, and covers the costs of tax reductions implemented last year. It includes an anticipated $1.3 billion in revenue from the Fair Share surtax, which is earmarked for education and transportation initiatives.
To manage the gap between revenue and spending, the budget trims $450 million from various items and avoids $500 million in additional spending. The Rainy Day Fund is expected to receive a $97 million deposit. For more information on the revenue estimates and budget rationale, check out the FY2025 Budget briefs by the Administration.
Affordable Housing Priorities:
Many of CHAPA’s affordable housing priorities received an increased investment in the Governor’s FY2025 budget proposal while many others received a level of funding and some of them had lower allocations than FY2024. Please see our Language analysis of the affordable housing priorities for policy details.
Supplemental Budget
Along with the FY2025 budget, the Administration also filed a Supplemental budget that draws from the transitional escrow funds to cover the EA shelter costs for FY2024 and FY2025. The Supp budget proposes $70 million for the Housing Stabilization Fund to provide for acquisition, preservation, rehab, and homelessness prevention; $50 million for Public Housing; $20 million for the Housing Innovation Fund, and $10 million for the Momentum Fund.
by iwd Tina | Jan 23, 2024 | Housing News
On January 22nd, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced investments in affordable housing for the production and preservation of over 1,900 housing units in 19 communities. This involves the allocation of state funding and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) support for various projects.
The Legislature and the Administration passed a $1 billion tax relief bill in the fall of 2022, which included raising the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to $60 million annually – a $20 million increase over the previous year.
The projects receiving the investments encompass a diverse range of developments, such as transforming a historic church into mixed-use housing in Boston and repurposing a vacant nursing home in Northampton.
The projects include:
- Residences at the Park – Athol
- 135 Dudley Street – Boston
- 775 Huntington – Boston
- Blessed Sacrament – Boston
- Mildred Hailey 3 – Boston
- NUBA Apartments – Boston
- Thatcher Apartments – Brockton
- Clifton Place – Cambridge
- Jackson Place – Cambridge
- Sacred Heart – Cambridge
- 4th at Broadway – Chelsea
- 25 Garvey Street – Everett
- Franklin Ridge Senior Housing – Franklin
- Library Commons 2 – Holyoke
- Prospect Place – Northampton
- Southern Tier – Oak Bluffs
- Schoolhouse Apartments – Rockland
- The Exchange 4%/9% – Salem
- 24 Webster Avenue – Somerville
- Plaza Apartments – South Hadley
- Residences at the Vault – Springfield
- Baldwinville School – Templeton
- Residences at Lawrence Hill – Wellfleet
- WCG Homes – Worcester
- Solimine House, Lynn (150 affordable senior housing units with health care supports)
- 900 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston (99 single-room occupancy units, with extensive support services, to chronically homeless individuals in a now-vacant hotel)
For more on the Administration’s press release, please visit https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-announces-new-affordable-housing-development-across-the-state.
by iwd Tina | Jan 23, 2024 | Housing News
On January 8th, the Healey Administration announced a revision to the current fiscal year’s budget called 9C cuts, which involves a $375 million reduction due to lower-than-expected tax collections. The Administration projected a $1 billion decrease in tax revenue for this budget year which may also impact the FY2025 budget.
The term ‘9C cuts’ refers to the Massachusetts Governor’s authority, under Section 9C of Chapter 29 of the General Laws, to unilaterally reduce state spending when tax revenues fall short of projections to ensure a balanced budget without legislative intervention.
The most notable change to CHAPA priorities was a $5 million cut in funding for Housing Consumer Education Centers, under line item 7004-3036. However, this decrease will be effectively neutralized by additional funds from the Federal Moving to Work program, ensuring that the Housing Consumer Education Centers will continue to receive the same allocation. Alongside this, other areas such as cash assistance programs (TAFDC) and Senior Supportive Housing programs also saw reductions in their budgets. Please refer to this chart for a full list of budget cuts.
The Administration’s strategy involves reducing expenditures for the next six months, utilizing typically non-budgeted investment earnings, and aiming for minimal revenue growth in the coming year. This approach, according to Healey’s team, is designed to navigate through fiscal year 2024 without further cuts, setting the stage for a balanced budget in fiscal year 2025, for which the proposal is due by January 24.
by iwd Tina | Nov 16, 2023 | Housing News
Currently, Massachusetts’ emergency shelters are at capacity due to a prolonged housing crisis compounded by a pressing humanitarian issue with many individuals and families fleeing their home countries due to conflict, persecution, or economic hardship. CHAPA is working with the Massachusetts Coalition for Homeless (MCH) and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) to advocate for the preservation and protection of our family shelter system, and to provide safe and affordable housing for every family in Emergency Assistance shelter.
We have jointly issued a letter of recommendation with MCH & MLRI to the Administration and Legislature asking for the following:
- Expanding available services for newly-arrived immigrant families and improving service coordination for all families experiencing homelessness
- Helping families swiftly move out of Emergency Assistance and other temporary shelter programs into permanent affordable housing
- Strengthening homelessness prevention resources to ensure that more families and individuals can maintain housing stability.
According to the Administration, the shelter capacity has reached 7,500 shelter units and the shelter system may not have enough space to shelter every eligible family right away. Families seeking shelter will be on a waitlist and will be moved to shelter as space opens up. For more details on the waitlist, please visit the Administration’s page on waitlists.
by iwd Tina | Nov 16, 2023 | Housing News
The House passed a $2.74 billion FY2023 Closeout Supplemental budget (H. 4167) which includes an allocation of $250 million for the emergency shelter system on November 8th. The Administration had requested the $250 million for the emergency shelter system in September in their supplemental budget proposal. The House version lays out specific directions on how that money could be spent.
On November 15th, the Senate passed their version of the $2.8 billion Supplemental budget (S.2502), including the the allocation of $250 million for the emergency shelter system. The language in the Senate bill, however, does not require targeted spending allotments within the total allocation, as the House proposes, but does require the administration to report on the spending every two weeks.
The last day of formal legislative sessions were on November 15th. The House and Senate appointed a Conference Committee to reconcile the differences in the two versions. The House and Senate will now have to vote on the bill in informal sessions or wait until January when formal sessions resume.
CHAPA thanks the Legislature for including the $250 million for emergency shelter in the Supplemental budget versions. We also urge the Legislature to reconcile the differences and pass the bill quickly so that families seeking shelter have a safe place to stay.
by iwd Tina | Oct 25, 2023 | Housing News
Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) applauds the Healey-Driscoll Administration for their historic proposal to invest $4 billion in affordable housing. The Affordable Homes Act is more than a housing plan; it is a statement of values.
Housing is the single best investment we can make for the future of Massachusetts. Governor Healey’s proposal builds on the new MBTA Communities Multifamily Zoning Law and the Housing Choice Act, to create affordable housing as communities put zoning in place for the 200,000 homes Massachusetts needs to stabilize home prices and rents. The Affordable Homes Act moves us forward in building 40,000 homes that are affordable for households with moderate incomes and 20,000 homes that are affordable for people with low and extremely low incomes. Creating homes for people across income levels will ensure that people, our communities, our economy, and our Commonwealth thrive.
The Affordable Homes Act proposes significant increases in funding for affordability, equity, and choice. This bill will create and preserve affordable and supportive housing, increase the supply of homeownership opportunities; invest in preservation, decarbonization, and redevelopment of public housing; increase accessibility for people with disabilities, expand housing diversity by allowing accessory dwelling units and investing in a social housing pilot program, expand tenant protections and long term housing stability; enable communities to establish real estate transfer fees to fund affordable housing production, and make it easier for communities to require affordability as part of multifamily development. The Affordable Homes Act invests in our neighborhoods through support for community development corporations and financing the construction and renovation of early education centers that serve families with low incomes.
The Affordable Homes Act makes great strides towards a more equitable Massachusetts. Through the creation of the Office of Fair Housing, the state will support communities and state agencies to further fair housing so that all communities are invested in and people have meaningful choices in where they live. Investments in CommonWealth Builder, MassDREAMS, and the creation of the Homeownership Production Tax Credit will increase the supply of homeownership opportunities and effectively narrow the racial homeownership gap by supporting people who have been kept out and left out of homeownership opportunities to achieve their homeownership goals.
The Affordable Homes Act will keep the state moving forward, building on the Commonwealth’s legacy of investing in affordable housing. New tools will expand the supply of deeply affordable homes so that shelters are a temporary place for people to be safe as they get the support they need to move into homes they can afford. By establishing a commission on senior housing and housing for people with extremely low incomes, creating a state housing plan, making receivership reforms, developing a seasonal designation for communities with tourism economies to meet their short and long-term housing needs, and creating a supportive housing pool fund to fund the services and coordination not funded through other sources, the Commonwealth will continue the work to develop policies and programs that will put Massachusetts on the path to a bright future where everyone can thrive.
CHAPA looks forward to working closely with members of the House and Senate as well as stakeholders from across the Commonwealth over the next several months to craft a final bill that will ensure that every Massachusetts has access to a safe, affordable home in the community they choose. We invite our members, partners, and affordable housing supporters to join us in advocacy to get the final bill across the finish line.
