|
|
|
State News Release - June 03, 2002 |
Home | Press | State Press |
| DC Statehood Green Party Greens Call For Full Funding for the Housing Production Trust Fund. |
|
THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY Contact: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Members of the D.C. Statehood Green Party have called on D.C. City Council to support full restoration of funding for the Housing Production Trust Fund when it votes on Tuesday, June 4. Statehood Greens also challenge Council to rescind the $500,000 that Council allegedly diverted from the Housing Production Trust Fund to pay for a tax abatement for downtown luxury housing. "This is another outrageous example of Mayor Williams' continuing betrayal of D.C. residents," said Steve Donkin, who is seeking the D.C. Statehood Green Party's nomination for the Mayor of D.C. "Under the current reign of Republican-acting Democrats, the District is freely handing over public money to Olympic bids, baseball stadiums, luxury condos, and Grand Prix auto racing while simultaneously telling the public there's no funding left to meet real human needs like affordable housing." Under the Housing Act of 2002, 15% of the revenue from recordation and transfer taxes must be deposited into the Housing Production Trust Fund, which would have provided an estimated $22 millionfor affordable housing in FY 2003. D.C. Council, at Mayor Williams' insistence, already cut funding for the trust in half for next year. The Mayor and some Council members want to cut it in half permanently, reducing the recordation and transfer tax revenue deposits from 15% to 7.5%. Statehood Greens note that full funding for the Trust could help to maintain or produce approximately 2,000 units of sorely needed affordable housing in D.C. each year, reduce the current housing crisis, and generate revenue for the District. The Statehood Green Party, which supports strengthened tenant protections and rent control, warns of the precarious position of low-income residents who must pay more than 30% of their income to cover shelter, as many face eviction or are forced to leave the District because of the growing cost of housing. In calling for the $31 million in restored full funding, the party joins numerous tenants' and affording housing advocacy organizations, including Washington Inner-city Self Help (Project WISH), the Tenants Task Force On Rent Control, and the D.C. Legislative Clinic. MORE INFORMATION The D.C. Statehood Green Party http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org |
|
State News Release - June 03, 2002 |
Home | Press | State Press |
