Building low-income housing is a miracle to begin with. But for nonprofit developers facing a tapped-out Housing Trust Fund in 2010, things look bleak, indeed.
The trust fund is the state's primary pool for financing low-income housing. The current biennial pool is at $100 million, but with that money now largely committed to projects, nonprofit developers are wondering how to keep housing production from grinding to a halt.
Enter House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, who helped found Seattle's Low Income Housing Institute. He says he's looking at two possible funding sources to raise new revenue for the trust fund in the legislative session that starts in January. He won't say what the sources are, but increased fees on something would be a safe bet.
In the meantime, LIHI's founding director, Sharon Lee, is floating a different idea to legislators: a new lottery game devoted solely to the Housing Trust Fund. Instead of going out to purchase tickets, Lee says, players could sign up for payroll deductions and buy them automatically or just make a regular donation.
Washington already dedicates lottery funds to education, and the idea is certainly creative, Chopp says, but "that particular idea will probably not be the one we select.