Charlotte City Council will consider expanding a pilot program to fund rental subsidies with property tax revenue in hopes of addressing a critical shortage of housing for the lowest income renters.
If approved, owners of affordable apartment developments could use rebates on their annual property tax to cover part of the rent for people who otherwise couldn’t afford to live there.
The vouchers would close the gap between what households earning up to 30% of the area median income (AMI) can afford and total rent price. The program is aimed at developers who buy naturally occurring affordable housing, or NOAH properties, to rehab and keep them affordable.
This concept tackles two of Charlotte’s toughest housing challenges: keeping older, more affordable apartments out of the hands of developers intending to buy properties, flip them and increase prices, and subsidizing rent for the city’s poorest residents, according to city housing director Pam Wideman.
Read more at The Charlotte Observer.