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Teacher Housing Proposal Detailed

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By RONNIE BLAIR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - The Pasco County School Board is expected to decide Dec. 3 whether to pursue a proposal that could lead to construction of a limited amount of affordable housing for teachers and other school district employees.

The tentative plan calls for about 40 town homes on surplus property the school district owns next to Marlowe Elementary School in New Port Richey.

An additional 20 single-family houses could be built in Zephyrhills on property owned by Workforce Housing Ventures, a nonprofit housing organization that would partner with the district on the project.

School employees could buy the homes well below the market price, partly because they wouldn't own the land.

Sixty homes might be a small amount for a school district that employs more than 9,000 people, but the two proposed developments represent a good way for the district to launch itself into affordable housing, said Karen Miller of PDC Affordable Housing, a consulting firm that would work with the district.

"If you don't start somewhere, you don't get anywhere," Miller told school board members during a workshop Tuesday.

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said housing costs have risen so high that recruiting and retaining teachers and other employees is becoming more difficult.

Under the plan, the district would apply for a $5 million grant through the state's Community Workforce Housing Innovation Program. The Legislature created the program in 2006 to help provide affordable housing to essential community workers, such as teachers, firefighters and police officers.

A lot of the specifics for the Pasco project haven't been worked out yet, but Miller said the school board needs to move quickly because grant applications must be in by Jan. 31.

"There is a deadline breathing down our necks," Miller said.

Details such as deed restrictions, resale criteria and how the district would decide who buys the homes could be determined later, she said.

The school district wouldn't be on its own in developing the project.

In addition to PDC Affordable Housing and Workforce Housing Ventures, the board would partner with the Pasco County Community Development Division and General Home Development.

General Home Development would build the homes.

The market value of the homes would be about $190,000 to $220,000, but the target price would be $90,000 to $110,000.

Part of the reason the price is kept low is the land isn't included.

The grant requires a 10 percent match. The land next to Marlowe Elementary would serve as the school district's match, so the district would not need to put up any money for the project.

The property would be put into a land trust for 99 years.

Securing the grant isn't a guarantee. Last year, with $50 million available statewide, the state received 33 applications and awarded 11 grants, said Tom Smith, president of General Home Development.

This year, with about $62 million available, the state expects about 70 applications, he said.

The state uses a point system for determining which applicants are successful, and Smith expressed confidence the group working with the school board could put together a successful package.

"We will get this," he said.

Smith said it would probably be about a year before any construction would begin.

Fiorentino said deciding which 40 to 60 employees could buy the homes would be the most difficult part of the process.

Not every employee will apply, though, because many of them already own their homes, she said, and the eligibility would be based on income, which would eliminate some others.

The proposal and the affordable housing problem aren't unique to Pasco.

Other school districts in Florida and throughout the country have taken it upon themselves to build housing for teachers or to provide assistance with home loans because salaries aren't in line with the cost of housing.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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