Iowa City to weigh data in affordable housing discussion

The City Council will resume its discussion on affordable housing Jan. 31, this time with a lot more data at its disposal.

The council took up the issue in the fall when it tried to tackle where certain types of affordable housing should be allowed to be built. Council members said they didn't want to overburden certain neighborhoods with affordable housing for fear it would hurt the neighborhoods and nearby schools.

Some council members specifically had southeast Iowa City in mind.

At issue is housing funded by federal Community Development Block Grant and HOME money. The city gets about $2 million annually in block grant and HOME funds that go toward affordable housing and human service agencies. Section 8 funds, often a source of debate, are not included in those two programs, and the city has no control over where Section 8 tenants choose to live.

Since November, city staff has entered select data into a geographic information system to help the council make its decision, including:

• Locations of existing subsidized and assisted housing
• Locations of a year's worth of police calls on drugs, alcohol offenses, property crimes and personal injuries
• Median household income by census tract
• Student mobility rates, standardized test scores and free and reduced-price lunch rates at elementary schools
• Change in residential sale prices.

Staff is proposing a model that weights the significance of each item. The highest number, 40 percent, was given to the location of existing assisted rental housing, excluding Section 8 vouchers. The next was 20 percent to student mobility rates, and the other two elementary points accounted for 5 percent each, meaning the existing housing and elementary criteria make up 70 percent of the total.

The council will have the final say in how the data is prioritized.

Staff recommends the model apply to all block grant and HOME assisted rental housing projects that include new construction or property acquisition, Jeff Davidson, the city's director of planning and community services, and Steve Long, community development coordinator, said in a memorandum to the council.

The model could be updated annually, they said.

The council work session starts at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 410 E. Washington St.