This town might start paying part of the rent for apartment-dwellers
There’s been a surge in luxury development, but the rental market is still tough for those near the bottom of the income ladder.
If you live in Waltham and are struggling to make rent each month, you may be in luck.
With rents soaring, Waltham officials are considering plans to spend $2 million over the next three years on vouchers for cash-strapped apartment dwellers.
The proposal is now before the City Council, with backers hoping to see money go to struggling renters as early as next spring.
“What we are seeing is rents going through the roof in Waltham,’’ said Diana Young, chairperson of the Waltham Community Preservation Committee, which recently voted to back the proposal.
Who does it cover?
While downtown Waltham has seen a surge in luxury apartment projects, the city’s apartment market is still tight, with many of the new units far beyond the means of those working in challenging but lower-paying jobs at local hotels, restaurants and stores.
The voucher proposal, Young said, is aimed at city residents who make less than 50 percent of area median income. That is defined as $32,950 for one person, $37,650 for a couple, and $42,350 and $47,050 for a family of three or four, respectively.
Residents who meet the income requirements would then get a chance to land one of 50 vouchers awarded through a lottery, with potential for future expansion should the initial “pilot’’ go well, noted Young, a retired tax lawyer.
Rent would be capped at 30 percent of income, or $300, depending on what is the higher number.
A hand up
The subsidies, in turn, are designed to be temporary, giving families a breathing space to spend money on other needs that have been neglected and hopefully improve their financial situation so they no longer need the help.
The Waltham Housing Authority would oversee the vouchers, which would then be paid directly to apartment building owners and landlords who agree to take part.
“It will be a stop gap for some and hopefully for others it will be enough of a boost to give them a chance to make it,’’ Young said.
The vouchers would be paid for from money raised through the Community Preservation Act, which allows Waltham and many other cities and towns across the state to add a small surcharge – 3 percent or less – to a homeowner’s tax bill.
The Community Preservation Committee, in turn, oversees the money and makes recommendations on how it should be used.
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The proposal has won support from the local chamber of commerce as well as the company that owns the Courtyard Boston Waltham and the Holiday Inn Express Boston-Waltham.
About a year and a half in the making, the voucher proposal has been championed by the WATCH Community Development Corp., which helps develop affordable housing.
Still, the rental plan is far from a done deal, with a vote in the City Council not likely until after November’s mayoral election is decided, Young said.
Waltham’s budding voucher proposal comes after years of steady retrenchment by the federal government in subsidizing and developing affordable housing, she noted.
While there is currently a federal voucher program, renters often can’t use it because current market rates go beyond the caps set in Washington.
“We are filling in a gap,’’ Young said.
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