How much dollars is much too significantly income? Governments throw out major figures at spending plan time, from time to time it is really hard to notify.
But Brendan O’Connell, CFO for the metropolis of Portland, mentioned some actually large figures close to housing not too long ago that seriously ought to place items in point of view.
The town budgeted $2.7 million for unexpected emergency shelter for the fiscal year that finishes in June. The true outlay could be 10 times that quantity, probably as significant as $30 million.
A good deal of that revenue is heading to shell out for motel rooms that have been made use of because the commence of the pandemic to property people in means that stops the distribute of COVID. The lodge bills have been growing, partly simply because additional folks have to have shelter and partly due to the fact the city has operate out of lower-cost rooms to rent.
The town has been spending far more than $1 million a month considering that the summer time, and the value is steadily increasing. In the thirty day period of December by itself, Portland shelled out $2.5 million to home 900 individuals.
To be obvious, this is not all coming from Portland taxpayers. The bill so far has been split by point out and federal resources, although the federal method is set to expire this spring. But it does elevate the question, how a lot housing could Portland establish if it had the income that it’s now compelled to commit on lodge rooms?
In accordance to Christian MilNeil, a journalist and housing activist, the solution is “a ton.”
MilNeil, who flagged these expenses in a tweet previous 7 days, did some fast back again-of-the-envelope math about what the town could do with that amount of dollars.
Given that you pay for housing around time, it’s a issue of funding. If the metropolis experienced $15 million to commit, which is what is tentatively projected for crisis shelter upcoming 12 months, it could construct about $60 million really worth of housing appropriate now.
MilNeil serves