affordable housing

Santa Fe residents will vote next week on whether or not to adopt a mansion tax or an excise tax on buyers of homes over $1 million. The tax would add 3% on the amount a buyer pays over $1 million. So, if a home costs $1.1 million, the buyer would pay $3,000. That money would then go to the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund.KUNM’s Megan Myscofski sat down with Santa Fe mayor Alan Webber and Office of Affordable Housing Director Alexandra Ladd who says this will make the money the city puts into affordable housing more consistent by diversifying it.

Los Ranchos de Albuquerque is a small village with agricultural roots near the city's north valley. The semi-rural community is also an expensive place to live. The affordability of housing amid an aging demographic has become a key debate in the four-way contest for mayor.

Two of the seven City of Albuquerque bonds on the ballot in the Nov. 7 election go towards issues top-of-mind for many residents, elected officials and city council candidates alike: public safety and housing. Albuquerque Fire Rescue — not police — would see the biggest chunk of the $25 million public safety bond, and affordable housing would get the single largest windfall from another $35 million pot of money up for voter approval.

Santa Fe voters will decide in November whether to instate a “mansion tax” or extra tax on buyers of houses over $1 million. Dozens of residents turned out ahead of a city council vote on the proposal Tuesday, and most voiced frustration with the high cost of housing in the city.

Santa Fe is considering adopting a “mansion tax,” or an extra tax on homebuyers of houses over $1 million. The would go to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which supports new housing projects and efforts to keep residents in their homes.

About half of renters in Albuquerque and Santa Fe are cost-burdened, meaning that they spend an outsized portion of their paychecks on rent. That’s according to a new study from Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, and those statistics are in line with much of the rest of the country.

New Mexicans need to earn about $20 per hour to afford a modest apartment in much of the state, according to an annual report on housing affordability released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Like much of the country, New Mexico is dealing with a crunch on affordable housing. Rent in the state has increased 70%, just since 2017, according to the Legislative Finance Committee. Rick Jacobus is an expert on inclusionary housing who works with cities to plan for more equitable options. He spoke recently in Santa Fe and told KUNM’s Megan Myscofski that while many factors go into the lack of lower- and middle-income housing, the underlying problem is we have built a system that’s overly defensive.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and city leaders announced Monday the final purchase of the Sure Stay Hotel near Eubank and Lomas. The City plans to renovate the hotel into one-bedroom and efficiency apartments to provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income renters.

There’s a concerted effort at Albuquerque City Hall to expand access to housing. The Office of Equity and Inclusion recently released a needs assessment, the department of Family and Community Services is working on strategies to protect and create housing, and a public meeting last week on converting hotels into permanent housing was so well-attended another one is scheduled for Tuesday evening – this time online.