Illinois Housing Task Force holds inaugural meeting

On December 11, 2003, the state held the first meeting of the Illinois Housing Task Force. A complete list of Task Force members is available here.

The Task Force is charged with the task of creating an annual comprehensive housing plan to address the housing needs for six underserved populations: low-income families, low-income seniors, low-income people with disabilities, the homeless, people unable to live near work or transportation, and low-income people residing in existing affordable housing that is at risk of becoming lost or unaffordable.

2004’s housing plan will take the form of the Consolidated Plan the federal government requires for funding purposes, which the State has already submitted. However, this document is more a report of activity than a visionary document of state priorities and policy.

The next steps are to create working groups and to create a workplan for each. The Task Force working groups will examine short-term plans to promulgate the more-comprehensive state plan that the Executive Order requires, focus on ways to better use all existing funding sources available and begin planning for FY2005.

The Executive Committee is in the process of developing the final makeup and schedule for the working groups, and a final decision will shortly be announced.

Work begins on Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act

Under this new law, municipalities with less than 10% affordable housing stock are encouraged to incorporate affordable housing into their communities by developing a housing plan. IHDA has begun the process of identifying affected municipalities and will issue a final list early this year.

Recognizing that many municipalities need assistance in developing their housing plans, IHDA is also looking into ways to provide municipal planners guidance and technical support. Ideas under consideration include a technical assistance workshop, or the development of workbooks, boilerplate planning guidelines, and other support materials.

In November, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) invited a group of suburban legislators and IHDA executive director Kelly King Dibble on a trip to Massachusetts to learn about that state's mixed-income housing development legislation. Under the highly successful “40B program,” housing developers who propose developments that include 25% affordable housing can access a streamlined permit process and can appeal denials to a statewide housing appeals board. The affordable units are mixed in with and are indistinguishable from the market-rate units. Since 1969, the program has led to 30,000 units of affordable housing being created, with 3,600 more in the pipeline, and 119 communities gaining affordable housing that previously had none.

Legislative session begins

The 2004 legislative session begins next week when the General Assembly meets for two days. As the February 9^th deadline for introducing legislation is fast approaching, we are working to get prepared for another busy session.

We will have a full report on all housing-related legislation that is introduced in early February.