Ellington

New housing construction will boost Mississippi's lagging economy, says Housing Mississippi, an alliance of low-income housing advocacy groups. The organization plans to stimulate building projects through a housing trust fund specifically targeted to assist low-income Mississippi households (those making $29,000 or less annually).

The Magnolia State is one of only 12 states in the country without a housing trust fund, and Housing Mississippi is working with the Mississippi Senate Housing Committee, headed by Sen. Hillman Frazier, D-Hinds, to establish one through 2009 legislation.

Among the fund's selling points is its potential impact on the economy. Construction of 1,000 multi-family homes translates into more than 1,000 full-time jobs, the National Association of Home Builders reports.

"It's not just the fact that there are new jobs created," said Natalie Presley, Housing Mississippi co-coordinator. "It trickles down. People are going to have property tax. If you look at blighted neighborhoods … a lot of times (new construction) increases the property values of the people next door."

NAHB says those same 1,000 homes will generate $33.5 million in wages and $17.8 million in tax revenues and fees.
How it Works

The proposed housing trust fund will provide grants and loans to low-income housing developers, community development organizations, and non-profit and faith-based groups, among others for Mississippians making less than 80 percent of the state's median household income—$36,338 in 2007.

The fund would cover some up-front and construction costs, as well as financial counseling. Proponents of the fund stress that the grants and loans would not be a give-away. Fund administrators would award the cash through competitive proposals.

Stan Flint, managing partner of the Southern Strategy Group, a lobbying firm working with Housing Mississippi, provided the Jackson Free Press with summaries of two state studies that better the NAHB's findings. Colorado concluded that a $26.5 million fund would produce more than 3,200 new jobs and $334 million in economic activity. And Indiana concluded that their $20 investment resulted in 1,600 new jobs with $52 million in wages and $83 million in income for other industries.

"We are convinced, based on data from other states, that by the time two years comes around, the return on investment for the state would more than equal what the state would require on an ongoing basis," Flint said.

Establishing a Fund
It seems no one is arguing against a housing trust fund for Mississippi. Even Gov. Haley Barbour's Gulf Coast "housing czar," Gerald Blessey, believes it would be a positive step forward for the state. "I think it would be a very good idea and be very helpful for all areas of the state," Blessey said.

Nevertheless, the committee will need to address a sticking point common to all housing trust funds: the need for in-state dedicated, sustainable funding.

Flint said the housing committee has already identified some fund sources that the trust fund would generate through its building activities, such as a portion of the taxes on building materials, plus some building fees and interest on loans. Because the construction would not exist without a fund, those sources are especially appealing since no new taxes would be involved.

"We would like to be able to start off with available community development block grant money that is available as a result of the housing money that came to the Coast," Flint said. After the initial seed money, the fund would sustain itself dedicated sources.

Mississippi's Housing Problem
Hurricane Katrina destroyed or damaged 75 percent of all low-income housing on the Coast, which experts estimated was inadequate for the communities' needs even before the storm. Today, more than 4,000 families remain in FEMA trailers or cottages. Rebuilding and repairing low-income housing on the Coast has been a defining issue for many low-income housing advocates.

A critical need for decent low-income housing also exists in the Mississippi Delta and in other rural and inner-city areas of the state, as it has for decades. The Delta, in particular, suffers from chronic poverty, where nearly 30 percent of the residents live below the poverty line.

Jaribu Hill, founder and executive director of the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights in Greenville, listed some of the conditions she and her staff have encountered in Delta rental properties, including infestations of mice, rats and roaches, overflowing dumpsters and stopped-up sewage lines.

"There's a pervasive … epidemic in the type of housing that poor people are expected to accept," she said. "You would look at these houses and these dwellings and immediately, if you've traveled abroad, you would think that you're in a severely undeveloped or developing Third-World country."

Blessey stressed that while a housing trust fund might not solve all of the state's low-income housing issues, Mississippi should move ahead with it. "We've got to try this thing and see if it works, and if it doesn't work, try something else," he said.