This Week in Olympia: Another Cash Grab by Non-Profit Housers
Late last week I spotted a post on Facebook that I really couldn’t believe. The non-profit housing group the Housing Development Consortium (HDC) and Futurewise are pushing to use funds generated from the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) for affordable housing. The legislation, House Bill 1797 I can’t put it any other way: This is outrageous. […]
Preservation Tax Exemption: An Efficient and Sensible Way to Preserve Older Housing
Yesterday, in Olympia, I gave some comments to the Senate Human Services, Mental Health & Housing about Senate Bill 5182. The proposal was offered in a previous legislative session but failed to pass. I think this proposal called the “Preservation Tax Exemption,” is a great idea if it’s done correctly. The idea is to expand the […]
Seattle Times Right and Wrong on Grand Bargain
The Seattle Times weighed in yesterday on the passage earlier in the week of key legislation that starts the City down the road of mandatory inclusionary zoning through the much hyped Grand Bargain. We’ve pointed out that, so far, the math isn’t working: the mandatory upzones proposed for neighborhood builders will cost more than the rent revenue […]
