A Fairfax County audit released Tuesday found that the county paid nearly $1.5 million in condominium and association fees for its affordable- housing units last year. A separate report, also released Tuesday by a local conservative think tank, criticized the county for subsidizing a handful of homes and apartments for below-market rates in developments where units sell for upward of $500,000 and include amenities like community swimming pools.
Together the reports sparked a politicized debate among Fairfax supervisors over the county’s priorities concerning housing for its poor and working-class residents.
Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield, who requested the audit and worked closely with the think tank, the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, decried the fees and the “gold-plated” units as a waste of taxpayer dollars.
“We need to take a time out and revisit our housing policy,” he said, adding that if low-income residents qualify for “upscale” properties, they have little incentive to better their financial situation.
Herrity’s comments came at what had originally been scheduled as a news conference. Minutes before its start, however, he moved it to a private room and barred entry by county staff or local housing advocates.
The Jefferson Institute report highlighted about 20 units countywide that are restricted by their deeds to sell at what the county deems affordable rates — most for less than $300,000.
Fairfax manages just over 3,600 affordable-housing units, according to the audit — some for rent, and some for purchase for those who qualify by income and employment status. The average value of each unit, taking into account the deed restrictions, is about $81,500.
The units spotlighted by the Jefferson Institute report are within townhouse developments where some units sell for as much as $800,000. Developers often agree to sell affordable units in exchange for financial perks from the county, such as being allowed to build at greater density levels.
The board’s Democrats hotly defended the county’s affordable-housing policies, saying they allow for mixed-income communities instead of concentrations of poverty, and the resulting concentrations of crime.
“Our affordable housing looks like homes where people want to live,” said Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, D-Hunter Mill. “And things are happening in those communities that community members want to have happening.”
