WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Housing advocates say it will create 20,000 affordable housing units over the next decade.
If passed, money raised by the bond issued will go toward both renters and buyers and paying a portion of their rent or mortgages to families in the $40,000 to $100,000 a year range.
The Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County said the bond issue will create 20,000 affordable units over the next decade.
Contact 5 has spoken to several people who say some kind of relief is needed.
That includes massage therapist Dawn Elder, who recently left her Boynton Beach apartment after facing a rent hike of $1,100 a month.
"It's really not affordable for the middle class anymore," Elder told Contact 5 before moving out. "I left Boca Raton initially to move to Boynton because it was more affordable to me. Now, it's not affordable."
The chair of the Housing Leadership Council said despite the $200 million price tag, it will cost the average taxpayer between zero and $20 per year because county bonds spent on improving recreation facilities and libraries in the county are about to be paid off.
Still, Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay is concerned that even a slight increase to property taxpayers as a result of the bond is a cause for concern,
“I’ve talked with staff about it. The amount is minimal,” said McKinlay. “I asked them to go back and make sure that if it’s the impact to a homeowner, what it the impact to someone who is renting?”
McKinlay believes commissioners will eventually ask Palm Beach County voters to decide on the bond issue, in a vote that could come during the August primary or the November general election.