Politics & Government

Is Fairfax County's Subsidized Housing Too Good?

Supervisor Pat Herrity speaks out against the amenities he says some residents in subsidized housing receive.

A furor has broken out among Fairfax County elected officials and housing advocates over what one supervisor calls “subsidized luxury housing.”

Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity has been behind much of the push to look at the money spent by the county on rent and condo fees for subsidized housing units, which Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova has defended as part of a “critical strategy” meant to integrate subsidized homes into the community and disperse them across the county.

A study released by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy on Monday looked at three of the buildings termed “subsidized luxury housing” by author Michael Thompson, President of the Thomas Jefferson Institute. 

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Millions in Condo Fees

Thompson said he looked at three specific property areas managed by the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) through Fairfax County Public Housing (PH) and Fairfax County Rental Program (FCRP). HCD manages approximately 3,624 housing units with over 7,281 beds, including efficiency apartments, multi-bedroom apartments, townhouses, single family homes and mobile home pad sites, within 75 properties.

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Residents in these programs must be between a certain income level for the size of their household and also must live or work in Fairfax County. Residents pay a minimum rent or 30 percent of their household income, whichever is greater, for subsidized housing.

Thompson looked at Stockwell Manor in Falls Church, Bryson at Woodland Park in Herndon, and Halstead at the Metro (near the Dunn-Loring Metro station), all of which have subsidized units within it. He stated in his study that some of the subsidized housing in Fairfax County is sold for about 16 percent of the cost of the “normal units” in the development they exist in.

For example, Stockwell Manor is a community of townhouses where homes are valued from $850,000 to more than $1 million. The affordable housing units are priced at $145,000.

“Although a little smaller than the ‘big homes’ and with less expensive interiors, these ‘affordable homes’ in high priced neighborhoods are not an incentive for the subsidized homeowner to ever move out,” Thompson states in his study at one point.

Herrity recently asked the Office of Financial and Program Audit to look at the condo fees and property values HCD pays each year. A preliminary report presented at the quarterly meeting of the Financial and Program Audit Committee on Tuesday stated that the county spent $1.47 million on condo and HOA fees for subsidized housing in condominiums in the fiscal year 2010.  The county will pay even more on these fees in fiscal year 2011, as the report noted that the fees paid through May 2011 were $1.485 million. These condo fees are paid through a variety of funds, with 80 percent coming from the General Fund, the report said.

The report states that these condo fees range in cost from $41 a month ($490 a year) to $567 a month ($6,800 a year). The average payment per unit is $208 a month, or $2,500 a year. These fees cover maintenance costs, utility cost sharing and the provision and use of common areas such as pools, exercise rooms and playgrounds.

“I don’t think your average person at a PTA meeting would want their money to pay for amenities they don’t have themselves,” Thompson said, particularly emphasizing buildings with subsidized housing that include swimming pools and gyms.

Herrity brought up three main concerns with the money spent on the subsidized condos in a press conference on Tuesday.

“The investment in these units could be so much better used to serve so many more people,” Herrity stated. “We’re providing housing better than the majority of our tax-paying citizens have.”

‘A Disincentive to Move Out'

Herrity also expressed concern that the program would actually discourage people from finding ways to get out of subsidized housing.

“It’s really not helping people get back on their feet,” Herrity said. It’s providing a disincentive to move out.”

Herrity emphasized that fixes to the current Housing Authority program needed to be put into place soon, before the large amount of development planned Tyson’s Corner gets under way.

Those who defend the program say that it’s important to have subsidized housing scattered throughout the county.

“A critical strategy for providing affordable housing alternatives to residents is that these houses are integrated into the community and dispersed across Fairfax County,” Bulova said in a statement released Tuesday. “Doing so prevents the creation of pockets of poverty.”

The report from Office of Financial & Program Audit said that the practice of “encouraging a balanced distribution of affordable housing throughout the county” has been largely pursued in the last 30 years by purchasing condo units.

Bulova’s statements acknowledged that monthly fees paid for subsidized units go toward basic services and shared amenities such as swimming pools, stating that 15 of the 41 condominium developments in which the county owns affordable units have swimming pools for their tenants.

“Fairfax County cannot and will not ask private companies to treat tenants differently based on income,” the statement continued. “If a child in an affordable unit wants to use the swimming pool with his neighbors, he should be allowed to. We also will not as private companies to waive such fees and interfere with their ability to be successful. Fairfax County will also not tell these private companies which amenities they can provide in an open competitive market.”

Housing Advocates Respond

A mix of affordable housing advocates at the Fairfax County Government Center Tuesday expressed irritation at the closed nature of the press conference Herrity held, which was between Herrity, Thompson, members of Herrity’s staff and three reporters and was in a closed room. They said that it was difficult to respond to Herrity’s allegations when they did not know what they were but spoke generally on the subject.

“We all like mixed-income communities,” said Al Smuzynski, who’s been working in affordable housing issues for 35 years. “In Fairfax County, we build good quality housing that is attractive and energy efficient.”

Smuzynski also disagreed with Herrity’s assertion that there was no incentive for residents of subsidized housing in condos to move out.

“On most affordable housing programs, when you earn more money, you pay more rent,” Smuzynski said. “As [residents] pay more and more, they’re likely to leave.” 

He also pointed out that when residents make more than a certain income, they are required to leave subsidized housing.

Possible Solutions

Thompson offered two suggestions in his study to fix the issue, suggesting that the government instead give money to Habitat for Humanity to build homes, or otherwise, think creatively for new solutions. One possibility he brought up was making foreclosed homes into subsidized housing, which would keep property values in the neighborhood from going down while providing the family a place to live. 

“There are things you can do creatively to give deserving people a place to stay while benefiting the community,” Thompson said.

Thompson could not give any examples of jurisdictions that currently have such a “foster home” policy, as he termed it.


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