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As part of the AHAC's analysis, the 28/36 rule was applied to varying income ranges starting with a <br />single minimum wage job earning just under $18,000 per year up through a household earning <br />$75,000 per year to determine maximum monthly housing payments by income category. That <br />maximum housing payment information was compared to the development sales and rental prices for <br />new single family and town home units currently available for sale and to newer rental project rent <br />rates. This analysis found that there are currently no new single-family home or townhome <br />purchase options for households with annual incomes below $65,000 and found similarly that <br />there are no market rate rental apartment complexes options for households earning less than <br />$50,000 to $55,000 per year. To quantify the issue, approximately 52%, or 30,000 households in <br />Indian River County do not have a high enough income (assuming a FHA Mortgage with 3% down <br />payment) to afford the lowest priced market rate new home option currently available in the County <br />or to rent a market rate apartment. The problem gets worse when looking at projections to the future. <br />Based on Census and County growth projections there will be a need for over 5,000 new housing <br />units by 2030 that will not be built by developers of market rate developments <br />(homeownership or rental). <br />The AHAC found that the reason that new homes are not being built to be sold to households <br />with annual incomes of less than $65,000 and why apartments are not being developed to <br />address income ranges below $50,000 to $55,000 is purely economics. As evaluated in detail by <br />the AHAC, the hard costs (land, overall site development costs, and building construction costs) and <br />soft costs (impact fees, design and engineering costs, etc.) when combined drive the sales price of <br />homes and rental rates of apartments to costs only sustainable by higher income groups. The AHAC <br />reviewed potential options for reducing development costs and incentivizing affordable housing <br />development (beyond the County's current methods) and on January 22, 2020, the AHAC completed <br />its list of recommendations for BCC consideration (Attachment 1). <br />That list includes recommendations for setting affordable housing development targets, revising the <br />County's expedited permitting process and Land Development Regulations, reducing or eliminating <br />impact fees, identifying vacant land and encouraging redevelopment opportunities, advocating for <br />increased funding, and requesting municipalities within the County to review and modify their <br />regulations to encourage affordable housing. <br />At this time, the AHAC requests the BCC review and consider the list of recommendations and <br />provide direction to staff and the AHAC. <br />ANALYSIS <br />The AHAC's 15 recommendations, along with a brief description and actions needed for <br />implementation, are listed on Attachment 1. While some of these recommendations are <br />straightforward and easy to implement, such as adopting targets and meeting regularly, others, such <br />2 <br />