‘Redeploy the money’

April 24, 2011 | The Florida Times-Union

On April 7, the state Senate approved a bill that would maintain the document stamp tax funding the Sadowski trust, but would divert the money to the state’s general fund. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, chairman of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations, said the bill was introduced in response to a proposal by Gov. Rick Scott to eliminate the Sadowski trust fund.

“My take was not to eliminate the fund, but to redeploy the money,” Gaetz said.

Gaetz said that the budgetary bill was necessary because the funds are necessary elsewhere in the state’s budget. In previous years, the Legislature has commonly moved money from trust funds, or “swept” them, to plug budgetary holes.

And, he added, if passed it wouldn’t mean there would be no money for affordable housing if it becomes law — there would also be allocations to support affordable housing, they’ll just be made on a year-by-year basis out of the General Fund, he said. For the 2011-12 fiscal year, that would include $5 million for counties and cities through SHIP next year as well as $32.5 million for down payment assistance programs, he said.

Saunders said the year-by-year approach isn’t as good as a dedicated fund.

“Once you put a designated source into a general account, you’re always going to have other interest groups or trade organizations who feel they deserve the money more,” she said.

Another bill, approved in the Florida House April 7, would create a “super trust” called the State Economic Enhancement and Development (SEED) fund. That would mix Sadowski trust fund money with money from numerous other funds.

“The idea would be that affordable housing efforts would have to compete with other things for the money,” Garcia said.

According to the state’s Office of Public Information, the combined fund will allow the state more flexibility in how it allocates funds that were previously designated strictly for transportation, housing, job creation and economic support and development. Supporters say that will make the state more competitive.

Jaimie Ross, president of the Florida Housing Coalition, said even if the trust money is preserved under SEED, money would be diverted away from affordable housing.

“I think it will drop to zero,” Ross said. “I don’t think affordable housing will be the priority.”

Saunders said affordable housing programs are important because without them, many Floridians won’t ever own a home.

“I do a lot of affordable housing transactions,” she said. “I see the work these dollars do. There are people who work hard all of their lives for home ownership, and this is their only opportunity.”

Either bill’s passage into law could prove detrimental to Jacksonville’s housing market because either way a dedicated source for affordable housing would be gone, Greger said.

“If Sadowski goes away, we aren’t going to be able to get buyers into homes,” she said. “That will have an impact on the private lending level, it will have an impact on real estate, and it will have an impact on construction. Without demand, there will be no need to build or renovate homes.”