‘It’s mean-spirited’ Protesters demand cuts to Lexington housing program be restored
Rev. Joseph Owens said he was shocked when he heard Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton’s proposed $372 million budget would cut the affordable housing fund by $1.8 million.
But when the Shiloh Baptist Church minister learned the city’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 also would cut funding to homeless shelters and other social service agencies, “I was angry.”
Speaking from the bed of a pickup truck in the parking lot of Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary on Thursday night, Owens called the cuts “mean-spirited.”
With working families suffering due to job losses created by the coronavirus pandemic, now is not the time to cut funding to the city’s affordable housing program, Owens said.
“Slashing dollars for affordable housing is not only immoral, it’s wrong,” Owens said as those in attendance honked their horns in support.
More than 100 vehicles packed with people came to the novel “drive-in” protest Thursday evening at the church parking lot. Organizers encouraged those who attended to remain in their cars and trucks to observe social distancing guidelines.
The protest was organized by BUILD, Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct-Action, a group of 26 congregations that pushed for seven years for the city to create the affordable housing fund established in 2014.
To date, that fund has leveraged annual appropriations of $2 million to bring in $141 million in other funding and investment to create or restore 1,700 affordable housing units in a little more than five years.
Ferrill Square Apartments on Price Road was one of the program’s first recipients, said Rev. Nathl Moore of Frist African Baptist, which runs the affordable apartment complex. The funding from Lexington’s affordable housing program helped the aging apartment building replace the roof, upgrade appliances and make other much-needed changes.
Moore said without that funding, the cost of those upgrades would have been passed to the tenants, who could not afford a rent increase. The average rent at Ferrill Square is around $300 a month. The vast majority of the tenants are elderly or veterans on fixed incomes, he said.
Moore said one Ferrill Square tenant was a homeless veteran. The man receives Social Security benefits, but those benefits are not enough to pay for a market-rate apartment plus food, utilities, clothes and other necessities.
In a letter that Moore read Thursday, the unnamed tenant said he knows he is fortunate.“It was clean and the people were nice.”
Studies show that roughly one in four renters in Lexington has to spend more than 30 percent of income on rent. Some pay more than 50 percent.
Speakers on Thursday urged the $1.8 million cut to the program be restored. The city’s unemployment rate is believed to be about 25 percent. More than 44,000 Fayette County residents have filed for unemployment. That means more people at risk for losing their housing, the speakers said.
“At a time when we are asked to stay healthy at home, people need affordable housing more than ever,” said Father Dan Noll of Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary.
Gorton’s proposed $372 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would allocate $200,000 to the program which can be matched with $400,000 the program already has to fund one large affordable housing project. The city is projecting a more than $40 million revenue shortfall for the next fiscal year due to coronavirus-related job losses that have surpassed the Great Depression. To make up for those projected revenue losses, Gorton’s budget would cut more than $12 million across city government and $6 million in funding to outside agencies. More than 600 part-time seasonal staff were not hired this summer and 47 positions were frozen.
Gorton, in her budget address, said cutting funding to programs that serve vulnerable populations was painful but unfortunately necessary given the city’s dire financial situation. Gorton is spearheading efforts to raise money for six social service agencies, including shelters for women and children, cut from the budget.
Vice Mayor Steve Kay, who has pushed for the restoration of the $1.8 million in housing funding, said there are four affordable housing projects that could be funded with that amount. Those projects are currently eligible for Kentucky Housing Corporation tax credits.
Kay said in an interview prior to the Thursday rally that $1.8 million in city money is needed to draw $146 million in other funding.
“That includes 710 new units, 92 rehabilitated units for a total of 800 units,” Kay said of the projects that could receive funding if the $1.8 million is restored.
At the rally on Thursday night, Kay told the crowd Gorton and the city were facing unprecedented revenue losses in a short period of time. City leaders don’t know when people will get back to work or when the city’s revenues will improve. That’s why the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 has been so difficult.
“Like all of us, they do not know what lies ahead,” Kay said. “But I believe when my colleagues hear from all of you they will come to understand now is not the time to abandon those most in need.”
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council has discussed restoring funding to affordable housing and other programs cut from Gorton’s proposed budget but finding money to restore those cuts has been difficult. Gorton’s budget proposal would use more than $30 million in one-time money drawn from a series of city savings accounts. Some council members, including Kay, have proposed tapping those savings accounts to fund affordable housing and other programs. But some on council are opposed to further raiding the city’s rainy day funds.
The council resumes deliberations on possible changes to the budget May 28.
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 6:54 AM.
