In one of her final acts as mayor, Lovely Warren submitted legislation that, if approved by City Council, would create and seed a fund intended to help people at risk of losing their homes. But the details of the proposal haven’t been fleshed out.
On Tuesday, the Rochester City Council is expected to vote on establishing a housing trust fund, which would be seeded with $450,000 in grant funds the city received. The fund is intended to serve as a resource for people facing eviction or displacement for other reasons, and it’s designed to be flexible
The fund may be used to provide financial assistance to at-risk households, to support existing housing programs, to better fund low-income housing projects, or to improve home quality for low-income Rochesterians.
The measure is one of the last pieces of legislation submitted by former Mayor Lovely Warren to City Council. Warren’s last day in office was Dec. 1; she had agreed to resign when she pleaded guilty to felony campaign finance fraud charges. Her resignation was a condition of the plea agreement.
Last year, Attorney General Letitia James and Enterprise Community Partners launched the Anti-Displacement Learning Network with a goal of supporting so-called “anti-displacement plans” by municipalities across New York. In January, Enterprise awarded $1 million to Rochester for its efforts, which thus far has been used for COVID-related housing needs.
The initial $450,000 in the housing trust fund will come from the Enterprise grant.
The planning team for the trust fund is made up of representatives from city government, the Rochester City-Wide Tenant Union, Anthony L. Jordan Health Center, Catholic Family Center, and Love Fellowship Worship Center. Councilmember Miguel Meléndez also serves on the planning team.
The planning team will be responsible for identifying the greatest areas of need for Rochester’s low-income population.
Laura Felts represents the Tenant Union on the planning team. She said the initial funding is just a start to addressing Rochester’s needs.
“We know that the $450,000 is not enough to fund the housing trust fund in the way it’s funded in other cities to make it an effective project,” Felts said.
Just how the trust fund will build revenue or even be administered is unclear. The legislation before City Council states “there is continuing due diligence to determine the governance and administration structure of the (housing trust fund).” The legislation also states that City Council will, in the future, vote on establishing an administrative body for the fund.
But Felts said that leaves room to think about how to foster and grow the fund. She points to Baltimore as a city that set up an effective fund.
In 2016, Baltimore established its Affordable Housing Trust Fund to provide money for everything from building new apartments to providing rent assistance, all intended as a means of support for low and very-low income residents, from building new apartments to rent support and various other causes.
The fund paid out $21.3 million in the past two years to those causes, according to Baltimore city documents.
Baltimore’s trust fund is supported through a .06 percent excise tax on property transfers, something Felts hopes to see mirrored in Rochester, alongside grants and city investment.
“It’s really good to have a public and private mix of funds so it can be sustainably funded year after year,” Felts said. “Otherwise it’s kind of subject to the whims of the market.”
Meanwhile, New York state’s moratorium on evictions related to COVID-19 is set to expire on Jan. 15. Felts said it’s urgent that Rochester rethink its approach to housing. She points specifically to a tenant purchase assistance program as a key part of an effective housing trust.
“We want to be uplifted through this housing trust fund to purchase our own housing and have a more transformative way for us to have stability and control over the places that we live,” Felts said.
Gino Fanelli is a CITY staff writer.