09/27/04  Tax  Credit Funded Multi-Family

There are 3 additional reasons to oppose the proposed flood of multi-family housing proposed for the Southern Sector.

#1 The rental market in the Southern Sector is vastly overbuilt.   Any additional supply will hurt existing multi-family owners and taxpayers since tax appraisals for multi-family are based on rent rolls.  Also, most of these tax credit funded projects don't base property taxes on appraisals but on income. 

#2 The schools in the Southern Sector are filled beyond capacity.  Even after the $1 Billion dollar bond package approved for DISD, many schools will still have students in portable buildings after all the new schools are built.    These additional multi-family will just lead to more overcrowded schools.

 #3 Many of the problems with apartment buildings occurred after the boom in construction in the 1980's that turned into a bust when the economy crashed.  That is when a lot of apartments started renting to Section 8 tenants which led to an increase in crime in many neighborhoods.