As central Ohio grows, so must affordable housing options

The challenge of providing affordable housing is increasingly on the minds of elected officials and advocates across central Ohio, as it should be.

The ability of any geographic area — cities, counties and suburbs — to attract new tax-paying businesses and retain their existing tax base depends in large part on being able to offer homes that those businesses’ employees can afford.

So it makes sense that Franklin County commissioners, Columbus City Council members, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and even suburban officials are working to boost their jurisdictions’ stock of houses and apartments to complement economic-development efforts.

Kenny Mcdonald, who works to grow business throughout the 11-county Columbus region, is acutely aware of the relationship between jobs, wages and housing, with employers needing assurances that their employees will be able to live close enough to get to work.

“The farther they have to travel, the harder it is for them to get to day care or if they get a flat tire one day, it can really derail things,” said Mcdonald, president and chief economic officer of Columbus 2020.

With the area projected to attract as many as 1 million new residents by 2050 — taking the metro population from 2 million to 3 million — earnest new efforts to add more affordable homes can’t begin too soon.

That is especially true with studies indicating there is already a lack of about 54,000 affordable homes in central Ohio. That calculation is based on a determination of how many low-income households pay more than half of their income on housing.

It is good to see Franklin County commissioners are exploring the possibility of raising a user fee on home sales to bring in millions more dollars for efforts to increase the stock of houses and apartments that will allow more workers to still be able to buy other necessities.

The tax-raising vehicle commissioners are eyeing is the conveyance fee paid by sellers in realestate transactions. The state requires counties to levy $1 per $1,000 of the sale amount and permits another fee of up to $3 per $1,000.

Franklin County is in the bottom 13 percent of Ohio counties that still charge the minimum $1-per-$1,000 conveyance fee, according to the most recent data available —2016 fee rates posted to the Ohio Department of Taxation website in August. The state-required fee and the county’s additional $1 fee together raise about $14 million a year that is split between two nonprofits, the Community Shelter Board and the Affordable Housing Trust.

The maximum stateallowed fee of $3 per $1,000 in property sales is collected by 60 percent of Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Lucas (Toledo) and Summit (Akron) counties. Nearly a quarter of all counties collect $2 per $1,000 of property sold, with the rate at $2.50 for a couple of counties. Even if it doubled the permissive fee, Franklin County would still be on the low end among counties.

Meanwhile, Columbus is asking voters to approve a $1 billion bond issue May 7 that would include $50 million to help provide more affordable housing. The city earlier enacted new tax incentives to add affordable units to new developments.

And several suburbs — notably Grove City and Whitehall — have been working to add reasonably priced homes and apartments.

Central Ohio’s prosperity depends on having affordable housing options for all residents, current and future.