Leon County Commissioner Rick Minor says he’s reserving judgement on an affordable housing proposal coming up at Tuesday’s commission meeting. But he says he’s worried about the trade-off.
The plan would set aside 20 percent of the county’s annual allocation from the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency to buy land that would then be leased to developers to help reduce the cost of housing. County Commissioner David O’Keefe is backing the proposal.
But while Minor says he’ll keep an open mind, he also says that money would have to come from funds currently earmarked for road improvements.
“We’ve had accidents, fatalities on Tallahassee and Leon County roads the last few years," Minor said. "It’s an issue. I’m very concerned and wary about taking dollars to keep our roads safe and putting that to affordable housing.”
The proposal comes from the Capital Area Justice Ministry, an alliance of congregations working against poverty. The group’s research shows 16,000 Leon County families are spending more than half their incomes on rent and utilities. The hope is that the proposal would lead to more local affordable rental housing.
Minor says he’ll keep an open mind during the discussion.
“Both of those are important issues," he said. "I just don’t know at this point if I’m willing to take those dollars away to save lives on our roads for affordable housing.”
