Tempe Mayor Proposes Affordable Housing Construction Fund

In an effort to spur the building of more affordable housing units in Tempe, Mayor Corey Woods is proposing the creation of a fund to pay for such in-demand projects.

“As a longtime affordable housing advocate, I am determined to achieve a guaranteed pace of growth for our affordable and workforce housing stock,” Woods said in a statement.

The Mayor’s proposal calls for half of all new building permit fees to go directly to a group called the Tempe Coalition for Affordable Housing, which purchases, builds, upgrades, and maintains affordable housing properties in the city.

“We need to take action to prioritize sustainable revenue sources that we, the city, can control,” Woods continued.

Those fees, according to city officials, could be worth up to at least $2 million annually.

Currently, such fees are deposited into the city’s general fund and used for any number of departmental projects.

Woods’ proposal is in response to a housing study conducted last year contending that Tempe will need at least 11,000 new affordable units built in the next two decades in order to keep up with current population trends.
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The Mayor’s initiative is expected to be reviewed by the Tempe City Council on January 14.

​By Garry Boulard

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