Top Stories

Pittsburgh City Council votes to raise realty tax to fund affordable housing

City leaders have made it a goal for the last two years to find a way to create more affordable housing in the city.

That plan will be moving forward in 2018, while also bringing changes both good and bad for anyone looking to buy a home.

Darlyn Reaves calls Brighton Heights home, and has seen development in the North Side that hasn't always helped her family.

“I think a lot of the changes in our city have been making it less affordable,” Reaves said.

Despite what she's seen, Reaves is confident in what the city's future could look like.

TRENDING NOW:

“Myself and my family, we've been here our entire lives. When you're making housing more affordable, you're making it not just for the city to retain its heart but for the people who have been there for their entire lives,” Reaves said.

The Pittsburgh City Council will put the finishing touches on the Housing Opportunity Fund on Thursday, devoting $10 million per year to affordable housing.

City Councilman Dan Gilman says the fund will also include help for seniors with property taxes, down payment assistance for first time homebuyers and money for city residents to make renovations.

“This really is more of a sustainable neighborhood fund instead of an affordable housing fund. This is the kind of investment in our people and our neighborhoods that we should have been making for years,” said Gilman.

Paying for the fund proved to be a stumbling block for months.

In the end, the council voted to raise the realty transfer tax by 0.5 percent in February and another 0.5 percent in 2020.

The tax is applied to anyone buying a home and critics worry it will discourage people from looking for houses in the city.

The change will be an adjustment for many in Pittsburgh, and Gilman will help implement it when he becomes the mayor's new chief of staff next week.

“It's kind of fun to have passed the bill and carry the bill over with me and lead the effort to partner with the URA in implementing it,” Gilman said.

Thursday morning, the City Council is expected to formalize the Housing Opportunity Fund with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, which will manage the fund.

 

Cox Media Group

Most Read