HERO

 

Taxing developers green for cheap homes looks red to mayor

 

By Brittany Wallman

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Posted May 20 2006

 

FORT LAUDERDALE � Mega-developers and the city's mayor are shooting down a proposed affordable housing law, calling it unfair, communistic and doomed to failure. People could afford a place to live, the mayor said, if they were willing to work harder.

 

Mayor Jim Naugle, a conservative and brash politician serving his final term, said people mistakenly think they're entitled to an affordable single-family house on a 40-hour work routine. They need to work more hours, and even then settle for a condo or townhouse, Naugle said.

 

 

 

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"I'm supposed to subsidize some schlock sitting on the sofa and drinking a beer, who won't work more than 40 hours a week?'' he asked. "I deny that there is a problem. You can buy condos all day for $160,000.''

 

Naugle's comments may be contested by the working-class citizens who've told the city they want a home but can't afford it. But his ideas might hit home in other circles, where a city proposal to make developers slash prices or pay a fee was met with skepticism.

 

"We ought to let the free market work,'' said Bill Scherer, a lawyer-developer on the city's Downtown Development Authority.

 

The proposal asks developers to give up big money -- $1.5 million on a 100-condo complex, for example -- for the theoretical good of the community. The city's law, as drafted, would make residential developers pay for affordable housing, either by providing it within their housing complexes, or paying fees into a trust fund to subsidize housing for the middle class. Families making up to $69,720 -- which is 20 percent more than the area's median family income -- would be eligible for a government boost.

 

New York has rent control. The federal government has Section 8 housing aid. So, this isn't the first time government has gotten involved in the real estate market to help people afford a place to live.

 

South Florida's cities only recently decided housing prices had reached crisis level highs, and Fort Lauderdale is one of the first to seriously attempt passing a law to do something about it. The city is under pressure from Broward County to pass a law; otherwise, the county says it won't allow another wave of construction of thousands of condos downtown.

 

"The concept of this ordinance is from each according to his ability, to each according to need, which is the Communist Manifesto,'' said Naugle, who calls the proposed law a "luxury housing tax.''

 

"One person is working two or three jobs to get ahead and one person isn't. Should we tax the person that's working hard to get ahead, to pay for the one who isn't?'' he said.

 

Jim Carras, head of the private, nonprofit Broward Housing Partnership, countered the mayor's Karl Marx rhetoric with a paraphrase from President Truman.

 

"`A decent place to live is the right of every American.' We have maybe stepped away from how we fund it,but even the most conservative Republicans in Congress and the state legislature see a role for government," said Carras.

 

Housing prices in Broward continue to shock some buyers. The median home price in Broward County in March -- the price at which half the homes sell for more and half the homes sell for less -- was $368,100 for a house and $202,600 for a condo.

 

Still, according to a recent study by Strategic Planning Group Inc., that means most condos are within financial reach of most buyers, though it might not be the size or location a buyer is seeking.

 

A debate about Fort Lauderdale's proposed law might have been expected, considering what's at stake.

 

"Gas is unaffordable. Now, do gas station owners need to go out and supply affordable gas?'' said Doug Eagon, president of Stiles Corp., which built many of downtown's big towers.

 

Developers said they would pass the costs to other buyers, leading to increased housing prices overall.

 

Major developers on the Downtown Development Authority originally supported the concept of an affordable housing regulation. But they don't like the results. They want it rewritten to offer incentives to developers, and to spread the cost across the general public, by using tax dollars, for example.

 

The building industry is officially opposed. Brandon Biederman, director of government affairs for the Builders Association of South Florida, told the city that construction costs are going up, making the additional fees an even worse proposition.

 

A recent version of the law was soundly rejected by city commissioners last month and sent back for more public discussion and revamping.

 

City planning director Marc LaFerrier said he's working on a new proposal, and it will likely be back in public debate June 6, at the City Commission's conference meeting in the afternoon.

 

Brittany Wallman can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4541.

Just as good as Bush telling a mother who has to work three full-time jobs that she is doing something "uniquely American". Yet another reason why I don't just hate, I DESPISE Republicans.

what a jackass. Why won't you just live in a condo and shutup?

 

I sure hope for his sake this stuff was taken out of context.

 

Probably doesn't bother him a bit that the median home is in the high 300s now.

 

still, most condos are within the reach of most buyers

so most people can still get condos?!! Even though these days most condos are just crappy apartments that have been converted to condo units??!! Holy crap I'm so excited about that! Hooray!

 

F*ck off Naugle. I doubt you even put in 40 hours a week.

 

There is NO incentive for developers to build smaller affordable housing right now. Anyone seen any nice new neighborhoods going up, other than thebig homes & condos that are selling in the 300s? I sure as hell haven't, at least not south of Martin County. Hell, already you have all these homes getting bought up by investors looking to flip them.

 

 

(... is it obvious I'm trying to buy a house right now?)

Just as good as Bush telling a mother who has to work three full-time jobs that she is doing something "uniquely American". Yet another reason why I don't just hate, I DESPISE Republicans.

 

I'm sick of NeoCons more than general Republicans. They are ruining America the longer they remain in office. Idiots like Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney, etc. who support the NeoCon philosophy, have managed to destroy America's standing on the world stage. In addition, by going to war against Iraq on shaky intelligence, they lost all of the public support gained after 9/11.

 

In much the same way the politicians of the early Cold War years believed in the unproven "Domino Effect", which resulted in two disasterous wars, today's NeoCons have likely done worse with the Iraq war. If there had been a few more Colin Powells in the White House before the Iraq war, I don't think we would have lost 2600+ soldiers and spent hundreds of billions of dollars to inherit Iraq.

First it was the welfare crack whores straw man they created to bash on. Now they bash on people who have hard working jobs but whose wages cant keep up with costs. Priorities priorities. But as long as they have fags and brown people to scare people with, it wont matter.

Just as good as Bush telling a mother who has to work three full-time jobs that she is doing something "uniquely American". Yet another reason why I don't just hate, I DESPISE Republicans.

 

 

Naugle's a Democrat.

 

:whistle

Just as good as Bush telling a mother who has to work three full-time jobs that she is doing something "uniquely American". Yet another reason why I don't just hate, I DESPISE Republicans.

 

 

Naugle's a Democrat.

 

:whistle

 

It's true he's a Democrat, so the Republican bashing was really unnecessary in this thread.

 

However he's about as far from the left as you can get.

 

Naugle's extremely and unabashedly conservative and a big Bush supporter. He uses terms like "wacko liberals" so I'd imagine the Republicans love him.

It's true he's a Democrat, so the Republican bashing was really unnecessary in this thread.

 

However he's about as far from the left as you can get.

 

Naugle's extremely and unabashedly conservative and a big Bush supporter. He uses terms like "wacko liberals" so I'd imagine the Republicans love him.

 

I don't like him. He is an a**hole.

Just as good as Bush telling a mother who has to work three full-time jobs that she is doing something "uniquely American". Yet another reason why I don't just hate, I DESPISE Republicans.

 

 

Naugle's a Democrat.

 

:whistle

 

It's true he's a Democrat, so the Republican bashing was really unnecessary in this thread.

 

However he's about as far from the left as you can get.

 

Naugle's extremely and unabashedly conservative and a big Bush supporter. He uses terms like "wacko liberals" so I'd imagine the Republicans love him.

 

 

We do...

 

:thumbup

Well, in that case he's a Zig-Zag Zell DINO.

Just as good as Bush telling a mother who has to work three full-time jobs that she is doing something "uniquely American". Yet another reason why I don't just hate, I DESPISE Republicans.

 

 

Naugle's a Democrat.

 

:whistle

 

It's true he's a Democrat, so the Republican bashing was really unnecessary in this thread.

 

However he's about as far from the left as you can get.

 

Naugle's extremely and unabashedly conservative and a big Bush supporter. He uses terms like "wacko liberals" so I'd imagine the Republicans love him.

 

 

We do...

 

:thumbup

 

I love anyone who uses the term wacko liberal. :thumbup

He's an a**hole because he doesn't understand how not including this economic demographic would not allow many operations in his city and in parts of the county to continue as efficiently or cost-effectively as previously.

He's an a**hole because he doesn't understand how not including this economic demographic would not allow many operations in his city and in parts of the county to continue as efficiently or cost-effectively as previously.

 

 

He understands...he just doesn't want them living in the "exclusive" parts of Fort Lauderdale. Let them live in Pompano and Oakland Park. It's not a far drive.

He's an a**hole because he doesn't understand how not including this economic demographic would not allow many operations in his city and in parts of the county to continue as efficiently or cost-effectively as previously.

 

Yep. New Orleans is learning this lesson the hard way.

 

 

 

He's an a**hole because he doesn't understand how not including this economic demographic would not allow many operations in his city and in parts of the county to continue as efficiently or cost-effectively as previously.

 

 

He understands...he just doesn't want them living in the "exclusive" parts of Fort Lauderdale. Let them live in Pompano and Oakland Park. It's not a far drive.

 

 

 

 

 

Gotta love the bottom line mentality. You can fight my wars. You can clean my house. You can serve my food. But I don't want any contact with you. The same mentality that kept a lot of blacks and hispanics from moving into nice neighborhoods for a long time. The world according to Mr. Burns.

I can afford to live in an apartment I cant afford to live in a house. I dont make much money. Yet Im not asking for a hand out so I can go buy a 4 bed 3 bath house. Its not the gov't job to make sure people live in houses and not condos. I live where I can afford to live. When my income goes up and I can afford a better living situation I will. Until then people should STFU. Sure the mayor of Ft. Lauderdale shouldve said what he said in a more tactful way, but he didnt. Why you get so pissy, I will never understand

I can afford to live in an apartment I cant afford to live in a house. I dont make much money. Yet Im not asking for a hand out so I can go buy a 4 bed 3 bath house. Its not the gov't job to make sure people live in houses and not condos. I live where I can afford to live. When my income goes up and I can afford a better living situation I will. Until then people should STFU. Sure the mayor of Ft. Lauderdale shouldve said what he said in a more tactful way, but he didnt. Why you get so pissy, I will never understand

 

His city has become unaffordable for many lower-middle class families. Without these people in your city limits, you effectively eliminate many of the benefits created by having business and residences in your tax base. If the workers live outside the tax base in which they work, then they are removing money from the tax base in which they work and taking it to the tax base in which they live.

 

You end up with a professional area with little residential areas and a tax base that could be 1 bankruptcy or outsourcing away from evaporation.

 

Miami hit this snag with downtown and recovered mainly due to County Government/Cruise Lines/Banks moving in. Fort Lauderdale, like New Orleans and Washington, does not have a county that would dump the money into a recovery because most of the residents would live outside the city and resent helping develop it.

Thats just it. It's fine to debate policy as is being done right now. But to call people who work 40 hour weeks lazy is amazing. It's not just tactless. It reflects a deeper problem of where some politicians have their priorities.

Thats just it. It's fine to debate policy as is being done right now. But to call people who work 40 hour weeks lazy is amazing. It's not just tactless. It reflects a deeper problem of where some politicians have their priorities.

 

I think dumping the Governor into that category is unjust though, the Mayor of Fort Lauderdale may support him, but Jeb has always been for families owning their homes and George W. has been very proactive in spending on programs to accomplish this. He has been instrumental in Downtown Miami's rebirth with his vision for charter schools and state regulation of construction so that Hurricane Evacuees have shelter and escape routes.

 

Our former Mayor in Cape Coral was ousted from his office by our current Mayor (GO TRITONS!!!) because he didn't care about affordable family housing. This issue will cost elections....maybe not in the City....but definitely can on the Broward County level....that could apply pressure to the stance.