DALLAS, TX - One in 50 children is now homeless in America, according to a report released recently by the National Center on Family Homelessness. "What would you say to these families, especially children, who are sleeping under bridges and in tents across the country?" a reporter asked President Barack Obama during last week's press conference on the financial crisis. As the president noted, it is a heart-wrenching question. In view of our national wealth, and in spite of the current economic downturn, the reality of children being forced to live on our streets is beyond shameful. Here in Dallas, homelessness is on the rise, which is perhaps why Mayor Tom Leppert joined with seven other big-city mayors this year to ask Gov. Rick Perry for $25 million for programs to remedy the homeless crisis in Texas cities.
Beyond our homeless neighbors, the financial crisis exacts a terrible toll on other low-income families who have long felt the pain of "housing poverty." For the past 20 years or more, Dallas leaders have wrestled unsuccessfully to overcome an obvious shortage of fit and affordable housing for low-income, working people, a shortage numbering in the tens of thousands of units.
Clearly, funding has been a major challenge. For example, the city of Dallas appropriates less than one-tenth of 1 percent of its annual general-revenue funds to the work of its Housing Department.
Thankfully, state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, and state Rep. Yvonne Davis, D-Dallas, have a brilliant plan to more effectively address our housing challenges. West's SB 950 and Davis' HB 3163 create a sustainable revenue stream of $30 million annually for the state's Housing Trust Fund. This fund makes resources available to for-profit and nonprofit housing developers interested in addressing affordable-housing needs across Texas, including homes for low- and moderate-income families, veterans, senior citizens, victims of domestic violence and people with disabilities.
The West-Davis plan establishes a recording fee of just $10 on the first page of real estate transaction documents filed with county clerks. Typically, every home transaction involves two documents. Under the proposed plan, a home purchaser would pay a $20 fee to the Housing Trust Fund whenever a home is sold. The plan would generate an estimated $30 million a year for the trust fund, which serves all of Texas. Today, the state contributes just $5.8 million annually.
Who could oppose such a bright idea? At this point, the only organized opposition comes from the Texas Association of Realtors, a formidable force in Austin. The industry is focusing its influence and resources to oppose the low-cost, tax-payer friendly, grassroots plan, and it is spreading myths about the plan itself. By claiming that the document recording fee is a tax and by asserting that such a fee ($20 tops!) could actually prevent Texans from being able to purchase homes, the group has been disingenuous in its efforts to see the legislation defeated.
In fact, if funded at $30 million per year, the Housing Trust Fund could provide homebuyer assistance to 3,000 households that otherwise might not be able to buy a home. The direct benefit to real-estate agents and to the Texas economy seems more than obvious.
People who work hard should have the opportunity to reside in decent homes. The Texas Housing Trust Fund would be a long-term investment in building homes that our people and our economy, desperately need. Texans need to support the West-Davis plan.
Source: DallasNews.com