At the September 16 county commission meeting, Chairman Walker indulged me by allowing an item to be moved from the consent agenda (where there is no discussion) to the main agenda so it could be discussed. The item involved the State Housing Initiative Program or SHIP. This program, funded in large part by taxes on home sales, is intended to help the very poor with housing. Like many government programs, it began with a good intent, and like most government programs, the rules in place prevent it from being the most efficient means of assistance. The case in point involves a property owner here that according to property records lives in a $28,000 mobile home. One of the many SHIP regulations is that the money cannot be used to repair a mobile home, nor can it be used to buy an existing home. The sole option is to remove it and replace it with a site-built home.
Another rule, which was the reason the item was on the agenda, was the limit of $100,000 for home replacement costs. The estimate here was $127,000, which was explained due to the rise in building materials. Here’s one of several problems, in this case an unintended consequence:
Looking at tax records, this homeowner like many of us faced tough times a couple of years ago. Even though they pay no property taxes due to the low value of the mobile home, they still pay about $335 per year in solid waste and fire protection fees. A couple of years ago, they could not pay those and the property had a tax deed placed on it. Fortunately the owner was able to get current, but now their $28,000 assessed value property within a couple of years will be justifiably assessed at over $100,000. Exemptions only cover up to $50,000, so how will they pay for the added taxes?
Another problem is those that to go to work every day and make “too much” money to get a free home. What message does this send to our kids? Like too many things these days (phones, Amazon Prime, and soon broadband), if you are poor you get a big discount or no cost at all. That family working 50-60 hours per week is paying for it- as well as paying full price for phones, etc.
The SHIP problem is not a new one, I first wrote about it back in 2011. Little has changed in 10 years, the rules remain the same. The solution now as then is to expand the ability of the program to use common-sense solutions such as making livable repairs or buying a lower-cost existing home. In the 2011 case, for $5,000 the mobile home could have been brought up to livable standards. Instead, an initial $65,000 project turned into a $75,000 one. That means the $127,000 now will likely be closer to $146,000 when the project is completed. A check of realtor.com today showed a livable $74,900 property for sale in town.
It’s up to our legislators to fix this waste of tax dollars. Like so many things in our “real quick” pace of life, it’s unlikely they will do so since not enough people care.
Paul Henry