But some community members and leaders say the document is more of a framework than a true set of firm and actionable policies.
Renters with the Dayton Tenant Union and other community members say the housing policy has unfunded recommendations and they want the city to put some of its Issue 9 income tax revenue toward trying to improve housing in the city.
“There’s not a truly identifiable policy in the housing policy plan,” said Destiny Brown, community organizer with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Inc. “There’s also no clear-cut funding model for how they will address even the vague recommendations in there.”
The Dayton City Commission on Wednesday night approved a new housing policy that identifies housing problems and needs in the community, such as a limited supply of affordable housing.
The document lists ideas, recommendations and goals for housing investments, preserving affordable units, supporting renters and homeowners, changing zoning code and taking other steps to remove barriers to the creation of new housing.
Recommendations include cracking down on tax-delinquent and irresponsible property owners and offering tax incentives to create affordable units.
The plan recommends advocating for new loan programs; prioritizing the use of federal funds for housing programs and initiatives; and working to develop new programs and strategies to address evictions, code violations and unsafe living environments.
The housing policy is broad and contains so many proposals and recommendations that it’s important for the city to figure out “what we’re going to do first, second and third,” said Dayton City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild.
Multiple people spoke at the city commission meeting on Wednesday to encourage the city to put some of its Issue 9 income tax revenue toward housing. Issue 9 was the 0.25% increase in the city income tax that voters approved in 2016, pushing the overall city rate to 2.5%.
Next year, the city plans to ask voters to renew that 0.25% tax, which expires at the end of 2024 and has generated between $11 million and $15.4 million annually.
The funding is used for universal preschool, city safety forces, road repaving, vacant lot mowing and park improvements.
Alice Wood, a member of the Dayton Tenant Union, said the city should use Issue 9 funds to help develop and support tenant protections and affordable housing.
Wood said she strongly believes tenants need legal representation when it comes to eviction matters in court. Most landlords have lawyers in eviction cases, while most renters (defendants) do not.
Viridis Green, another member of the tenant union, said too many people in the city live in deplorable conditions, but city inspectors cannot do much to help force the landlords to fix these problems.
“There isn’t a standard of quality — nothing exists to protect us from these injustices,” she said, adding the city should put some of its funding and resources toward improving renter protections.
Tara Campbell, who said she leads a local human rights coalition, said, “Many things have changed since 2016, from the passage of Issue 9. The renewal of Issue 9 does not address the urgent, critical need for housing in our community, and the citizens of Dayton have not been given time to weigh in on how their tax dollars are used, moving forward.”
Some members of the Dayton City Commission signaled they might be willing to use Issue 9 dollars for other priorities, like housing.
“That is an opportunity for us to revisit, to refocus the priorities ... in the five buckets that have been identified with the funding of Issue 9,” said Dayton City Commissioner Shenise Turner-Sloss. “We need to make housing a priority.”
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. said, “The aspect of how we’re addressing many of these concerns relative to Issue 9, we will take a good look at that and see what we can do in those spaces where we still ... allow it to be called a renewal.”
Mims said the housing plan isn’t a “perfect document” but there’s no such thing.
He said the plan likely will be a “living document” that will be adjusted and added onto as needed.
About the Author
