Supporting Affordable Housing in Ramsey County
by Elizabeth Tannen, Congregational Organizer for Ramsey County
All over Minnesota, families are struggling to find housing they can afford. There simply isn’t enough, in any county in the state. Ramsey County is no different. A recent report from the County advises a shortage of 15,000 units of deeply affordable housing; meanwhile, close to half of renters are paying more than they can afford for rent, which means they’re an emergency away from being unhoused.
We know we need big solutions that address this crisis at scale – like Bring It Home, Minnesota – statewide. And, we know that as we work toward those solutions, we need to do everything possible to direct as much and as many resources as we possibly can toward deeply affordable housing: homes for people with the lowest incomes and the fewest available options.
That’s why we at Beacon were excited to see Ramsey County seeking to support restoration and development of new units of deeply affordable housing.* In order to do so, they’re proposing to enact a levy – a small property tax – that would cost the median homeowner less than $50 dollars a year.
We know it makes economic sense to create housing. Data shows that the most common reason people in Ramsey County lose their homes is because they can’t afford them. And as expensive as it is to create quality affordable homes, it’s even more expensive to sustain decent shelter. The more the county invests in housing, the less they—and taxpayers—will ultimately spend to support emergency services for unhoused people.
And we know it’s the right thing to do in terms of racial equity: BIPOC St. Paul residents have been systematically denied access to home ownership and quality housing for centuries, and are disproportionately renters—as well as disproportionately cost-burdened. The funds from the levy would help to address these disparities.
Some of those who oppose the tax say it shouldn’t be the role of government to “help” people or to address systemic racism. They say people should be able to “pull themselves up” by their bootstraps, regardless of what barriers they may have experienced in the past or confront today.
We know better. We know that for too long the powerful interests that benefit from the status quo have held onto their power by dividing us, by getting us to point the finger at one another and fight over scraps. We know they’ve used race to divide us and to keep us from building solidarity with one another, to keep us from believing in our power to make meaningful change. We know they’re wrong, and that when we work together and believe in one another we can improve all our lives and make sure everyone has what they need to thrive.
We also know that while the money the HRA levy raises will disproportionately benefit BIPOC renters, it will also help significant numbers of white renters who struggle to make ends meet simply because many jobs in our economy don’t pay enough or because they face barriers to work outside of their control.
And we know that more affordable housing benefits everyone in every community: that all of us, not just those who need stable housing, are better off when every one of our neighbors has a home.
To learn more about how you and/or your faith community can support this campaign, reach out to Elizabeth at: etannen@beaconinterfaith.org
*officially defined as housing accessible or people making less than 30% AMI, which in the Twin Cities metro is less than $31,470 for a family of four)
