City Council President Aidee Nieves has made assignments to key committees where the primary work is done on the legislative body. The first two names comprise co-chairs.
Budget and Appropriations: Michael DeFilippo, Maria Zambrano Viggiano, Denese Taylor-Moye, Jeanette Herron, Matt McCarthy, Jorge Cruz, Ernie Newton.
Ordinances: Eneida Martinez, Marcus Brown, Ernie Newton, Michelle Lyons, Rosalina Roman-Christy, Michael DeFilippo, Maria Valle.
Public Safety and Transportation: Michelle Lyons, Denese Taylor-Moye, Eneida Martinez, Maria Pereira, Maria Valle, Mary McBride-Lee, AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia.
Economic and Community Development: Evette Brantley, Maria Valle, Rosalina Roman-Christy, Mary McBride-Lee, Jeanette Herron, Alfredo Castillo, Scott Burns.
Miscellaneous Matters: AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia, Scott Burns, Denese Taylor-Moye, Alfredo Castillo, Evette Brantley, Matt McCarthy, Samia Suliman.
Contracts: Ernie Newton, Jeanette Herron, Jorge Cruz, Michael DeFilippo, Alfredo Castillo, Scott Burns, Maria Pereira.
Education and Social Services: Jorge Cruz, Matt McCarthy, Maria Pereira, Samia Suliman, Maria Zambrano Viggiano, Scott Burns.
Congratulation to City Council President Aidee Nieves for a clear sense of one’s aims and principles.
Thanks
I would like to address the subject of tax assessment of affordable housing to City Council President Aidee Nieves. I’ve post a news article about how New Haven is addressing subject of tax assessment of affordable housing and I’m asking you to compare it with what Bridgeport is doing subject of tax assessment of affordable housing.
“Tax Breaks Pass, With Affordable Incentive” | New Haven Independent
The New Haven new program maintains an overall accelerated tax assessment phase-in rate that is 5 percent faster than the previous program’s, thereby allowing the city to collect more taxes sooner on eligible projects.
Decker’s amendment, however, restored the older, slightly slower phase-in rate for developers who commit to setting aside at least 10 percent of new apartments at rents affordable to tenants making 60 percent or less of the regional area median income (AMI). Those apartments must be restricted at affordable rates for at least 20 years, and they must be evenly distributed throughout the project, and not segregated onto just one floor.
That means that developers and other property owners who set aside a portion of new construction at affordable rents will be subject to an annual assessment phase-in schedule of 20 percent of the new assessed value, then 40 percent, then 60 percent, then 80 percent, then 100 percent, while all other project will receive the new phase-in schedule of 25 percent, 45 percent, 65 percent, 85 percent, and 100 percent.
The 5 percent increase from the latter will be put into a dedicated municipal affordable housing fund, which will be spent according to the recommendations of the newly-created Affordable Housing Commission.
“New Haven’s crisis of affordable housing requires a multi-faceted approach,” Decker said. “Setting aside money in an affordable housing fund is important and necessary. However, we must create incentives for private property owners to construct new affordable housing as well. This item as amended provides such an incentive.”
He said that this amendment creates an “either-or” proposition for developers and other property owners. “If they want the tax deferral, either they pay into a fund for affordable housing or they build affordable housing themselves.”
That 10 percent affordable set-aside is the same “inclusionary zoning” number included in the proposed commercial corridor rezoning initiative, and is also the same number that some private landlords are already committing to for existing planned large residential projects.
“Tax Breaks Pass, With Affordable Incentive” | New Haven Independent
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/assess_program/#.XefWK8nh75M.email
Ron
I like this concept interesting must look into this
thanks
While you are looking at the matter of tax issues and economic development, would you also look at the City website, too? As a long time elected representative of the people, you have some idea of how many housing units in the City are private and public rentals.
At the City website please click on Boards and Commissions and go down to two such identified groups: Fair Housing Commission and Fair Rent Commission. Expiry of terms for the few members listed range from 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. No members of more recent appointments by Mayors Fabrizi, Finch or Ganim are indicated. Curious?
Where do boards or commissions with missions for the people, go to die??? No minutes. No agendas. No members. No meetings. But they qualify for posting on the City website? Is this a City “inefficiency”, as OIB frequently covers? Should the subject be directed to Economic and Community Development?
The status quo may seem adequate to a few but if we are the largest population center in the State, and Housing and Renter Commissions are part of legal processes, why would a person from Bridgeport need to get to New Haven to discover that Bridgeport’s units are dead? Just asking? Time will tell.
Ernie, Bridgeport nothing like what New Haven has. When Bill Finch was mayor giving a 40 year rebate was no big problem for him, when he was questioned about it he said he had to do because the developer would go someplace else. Bridgeport has the reputation of pay to play, I’m sure everybody remember that during G1 term. Bob Walsh and few others would question the terms especially the terms for low income portion of those projects and the cost and future increase to low income families. Gentrification of Bridgeport has been the plan for Bridgeport.