|
promoted by Rosi
In an era where every dollar is needed by state and local government and unemployment is high, you might figure that no stone has been left unturned in finding sources of funding and ways to create jobs.
According to an excellent investigative report by Maya Rao of the Philadelphia Inquirer, you would be wrong. Municipal governments would rather sit on over $250 million in trust funds collected for the purpose of building starter apartments and homes for people with special needs than spend it.
The article finds $263 million in unspent funds around the state. That's a lot of homes not being built and a lot of jobs not being created.
In fact, more than 50 towns statewide have spent NO money since 2005 on actually creating homes despite having growing trust fund accounts. Seems that they want to keep out lower-income people so much that they would rather sit on the money than actually do anything.
You would think that, if nothing else, the new housing legislation being pushed by Sen. Ray Lesniak (S-1/A-3447) would get this money spent.
And you would be wrong. In fact, Sen. Lesniak's bill would make the problem worse. In the future, ALL obligations could be met through payments to trust funds instead of actually building homes. Leaving, well, even more money sitting around, and adding costs for non-profits who want to use that money to try to dislodge the funds by hiring lawyers. More bureaucracy and fewer homes - exactly the opposite of what this legislation should be trying to achieve.
There's more ... |
.gif)
