Las Cruces Community Radio 101.5 FM
  • Home
  • Donate
  • Listen
  • Schedule
    • Programs
  • Archives
  • Underwrite
  • Merch
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Walt Rubel Commentary: City Council has mixed-up priorities

3/9/2023

 
​Of the four general obligation bonds approved by Las Cruces voters in the November, 2022 election, two addressed critical needs (affordable housing and a new fire station) and two addressed wants (improvements to city parks.)

Incredibly, the City Council has prioritized our wants ahead of our needs. And so, park improvements will go ahead as scheduled. And, thankfully, so will construction of a new fire station on the north side of the East Mesa.
​But the most critical need addressed by the bond issue is affordable housing. And yet, it is the only one not moving forward.

City Treasurer Erika Jacquez told members of the City Council that the economy is too “volatile” right now. Really? The only volatility in the city budget recently has been how fast it has grown.

The city budget increased by nearly $16 million in the current fiscal year. And, during a budget retreat last month, council members were told that revenue for the next fiscal year is expected to be about $10 million more than anticipated. And yet there’s no money for affordable housing?

Maybe by the end of the year the economy will be less volatile, and we can finally address our critical shortage, Jacquez said. If not, maybe by the start of next year.

Funding for affordable housing is taxable, while the other projects will not be. That is apparently why it is being put on hold. One would hope council members were informed of that ahead of time and factored it into the total amount of the bond.

But even if they didn’t, that’s no excuse for putting parks ahead of housing. 

Las Cruces has an affordable housing shortage of about 5,600 units, City Housing and Neighborhood Services Manager Natalie Green told the Las Cruces Bulletin before the election. That is caused by a sharp increase in the average sales price for a home in Las Cruces, up from $183,000 in 2009 to $311,000 last year.

Affordable housing is defined as no more than 30 percent of the occupant’s income. Wages in Las Cruces have not climbed nearly as fast as housing prices. About 43 percent of renters are paying more than 30 percent of their income, forcing them to cut back on other family expenses.

Obviously, $6 million would not come close to solving the problem. The plan was to use that money to leverage state and federal funding, bringing the total to $36.5 million. That would have allowed for the construction of 175 new units.

It would have been a modest start. Now, even that’s on hold.

Shelter comes right after food and water on the list of basic needs for human survival. Our lack of affordable housing has had a negative impact on  our community in many ways - increasing homelessness, contributing to our escalating crime rate and making it more difficult to attract new workers and industry.

The City Council needs to reconsider its decision to put affordable housing on the back burner. We can’t afford to wait until next year. Construction needed to start yesterday.



Walter Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com.
Listen to the audio version

Comments are closed.

    Shows

    All
    All About Books
    Animal Affairs
    Cafe Con Leche
    Chicken Pot Pie
    Commentaries
    Coronavirus Update
    Delving In
    Earth Matters
    Eye On Government
    Just Community
    La Politica New Mexico
    Live From The Market
    Live True
    Shades Of The Blues
    Speak Up Las Cruces
    Special Broadcasts
    Take On Faith
    The Sunday Show
    Think Again
    This Week In Las Cruces

    Music Shows

    Click here to find archived episodes of many of our music programs on Mixcloud.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly