Unlike Republican Colette Chandler, The Incumbent District 2 County Commissioner, I will Actually Try To Solve The Housing Crisis!

What I Think We Should Do

Currently Luna County is part of the WESTERN REGIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY. However, the agency, through no fault of their own, is fundamentally constrained in what they can do. They serve eight geographically expansive New Mexico counties, a massive 32,546 square miles, an area larger than these 11 US states:

• South Carolina

• West Virginia

• Maryland

• Hawaii

• Massachusetts

• Vermont

• New Hampshire

• New Jersey

• Connecticut

• Delaware

• Rhode Island

With a centralized team of only seven permanent administrative staff members there is no way they can effectively serve all eight NM counties. Consequently, low and moderate income families in Deming and Columbus are getting short changed. In my opinion, the solution is for Luna County to withdraw from the Western Regional Housing Authority and establish our own Luna County Housing Authority to bring decision-making power back home where it belongs.

Housing Vouchers

If you are waiting for Section 8 housing, good luck. Administrative delays are what low-income residents in Luna County can expect when they rely on the Western Regional Housing Authority for those vouchers. Currently 545 subsidized housing units are physically present in Luna County, but an alarming 24% sit completely unoccupied and unavailable due to slow local processing times. A Luna County Housing Authority would solve that problem.

New Rental Housing

Under my plan the Luna County Housing Authority could do much more, much, much more than just issue Section 8 vouchers. It could build new multi-family rental housing without costing local taxpayers a dime. It could do that by issuing Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds, and selling them to investors, and this is why those bonds are great:

• Zero Taxpayer Liability: These revenue bonds do not constitute a debt for Luna County;

• How We Pay Back The Money We Borrow: Imagine we borrow money from investors to build new apartments. Once families move in, they pay monthly rent. We use that rent money to pay back the people who loaned us the money. It does not cost Luna County taxpayers anything;

• Taxpayer Protection: If the apartments lose money, the lenders lose their money. Luna County taxpayers never have to pay a single dime.

  

Single-Family Homes

Additionally, the Luna County Housing Authority could build entry-level single-family homes for rent or for sale. This would help low-and moderate-income families obtain safe, and affordable housing.

• How it is funded: Our local housing authority would apply for the money to build these new homes through the New Mexico HOME Single-Family Development Program. It provides below-market-rate construction loans to public housing agencies; 

• Zero-Interest Financing: Our housing authority could also utilize the New Mexico Zero Interest Homebuilder Program (ZIHP) to access interest-free construction financing specifically to build single-family homes for low-to-moderate-income buyers.

Single-Family Homes for Rent

The Luna County Housing Authority can and would build these single family homes for rent inside the city limits of Deming and Columbus provided each gave their permission.

• Scattered-Site Public Housing: Our own housing authority could build individual single-family homes or townhomes on all those vacant lots in Deming and Columbus. 

• Section 8 Voucher Compatibility: Since it would own those single-family rental homes, tenants could use their Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers to rent them, or the housing authority can attach a "Project-Based Voucher" directly to that single-family rental property.

Single-Family Homes for Sale

The Luna County Housing Authority could build a high-tech, green subdivision featuring solar panels, with backup batteries, and tankless water heaters in both Deming and Columbus. In fact, in New Mexico, building affordable single-family housing using "green tech" is a highly effective way to lower the total cost of homeownership. This strategy reduces a working-class family's monthly utility bills to near zero. And this how it could be done:

• The New Mexico Affordable Housing Act: Luna County or Deming or Columbus could legally donate vacant land they own directly to our new housing authority for $0. This completely eliminates the cost of land and because the housing authority as a government agency it does not build for profit. Plus, it is completely tax-exempt. That means they pay $0 in sales taxes on building materials. And they pass every single dollar saved directly to the buyers of the homes it builds, making home purchase price as inexpensive as possible.

• Lease-to-Purchase Single-Family Program: The authority could build these single-family homes and structure these properties as a lease-to-own program, helping low-income families build equity over 5 to 15 years until they fully buy the home from the county.

• MFA Homebuilder Financing: The new authority could apply directly to the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority for programs like the Zero Interest Homebuilder Program to fund the physical construction of houses for sale to first-time buyers.