Anne Arundel officials are defending their efforts to stop the county from giving away surplus property for houses for those making less than the median income.
“I don?t see those houses being affordable at the prices they would sell. We could sell that land and use the money toward other problems facing our budget,” said County Councilman Ed Middlebrooks, R-District 2.
The council Monday voted down donating $800,000 worth of property in Glen Burnie to the nonprofit Arundel Community Development Services to build eight houses for families living below the county?s median income of $75,000.
Middlebrooks said the money made from the property sale could be used to pay for education ? which went slightly underfunded this year ? and that making existing houses more affordable would be a cheaper and effective route.
The vote comes days after the council approved a fiscal 2009 budget with a 75 percent reduction in an initiative to promote affordable housing.
“For the second time in a month, the council has turned its back on policemen, firefighters and teachers who work in the county and cannot afford to live here,” said County Executive John R. Leopold.
Council members said the two actions are not related, noting Leopold?s housing initiative still received $500,000 of the $2 million requested at a time when tax revenues were slumping.
Even council members who voted for giving away the property said the council?s actions do not signal an anti-affordable housing attitude.
“A half-million dollars is not a setback,” said Councilman Josh Cohen, D-District 6.
Meanwhile, Arundel Community Development Services, which has built 17 houses in the past 16 years, will look for more surplus property, officials said.
“When you?re addressing affordable housing, you need a whole lot of pieces,” said ACDS director Kathleen Koch. “You need a tool bag with lots of pieces, and that was one piece we needed.”
