HRDC Director’s Association Response to Governor’s Housing Task Force

October 14, 2022

Dear Members of the Governor’s Housing Task Force,

We are reaching out as the 10 Community Action agencies of Montana to provide feedback to your draft report. We thank you for your service on the Task Force and your efforts to develop recommendations to improve the lives of all Montanans.

The Association confirms and applauds the recommendations and urgency included in Section 1B pertaining to increasing the supply of housing, more specifically, the utilization of ARPA funds to subsidize large-scale development projects that are building affordable or workforce housing, expansion of uses of the Coal Trust to provide deeper investment in the State’s Housing fund and Housing Trust Fund, and developing a Montana State Tax Credit Program. Further, the Association recommends fast-tracking the ability to project base Housing Choice Vouchers to help address the under-utilization of DOC programming. These sorts of tools are vital to addressing affordability in our communities.

We believe that public-private partnerships are not just about allocating capital and removing barriers, but rather they find success when there is an interest from all parties in the well-being of the communities and residents they serve. Public-private partnerships have proven to be very effective when layered with appropriate accountability measures (i.e. deed restrictions, affordability periods, etc). It is imperative that any allocation of capital or incentive be appropriately tied to an affordability equivalent to ensure that the task force’s objectives are realized.

We cannot, however, support recommendations that completely usurp local government control on zoning, lot sizes, ADUs, and other housing development processes. Municipalities have been critical partners in the development of affordable housing and often generate innovative and unique opportunities that work for their individual communities. We believe that these recommendations can help local governments identify areas where they can relax regulations and increase supply but should not be mandated at the state level.

From homelessness to homeownership, our agencies are actively addressing and stand ready to address housing needs for every community across Montana. On behalf of our many organizations, thank you again for your service and considering our feedback to the recommendations.

Sincerely,