FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 11, 2022

MEDIA CONTACTS

The City of Tacoma provided an update on the Affordable Housing Action Strategy (AHAS) during the City Council Study Session on October 11.

During the presentation, 2025 Strategic Manager, Jacques Colon, and the AHAS Teams gave a presentation that included an overview of the Affordable Housing Action Strategy, project status updates for 2022, and a discussion about the increasing importance and need for anti-displacement strategies and emphasis on home-ownership.

Currently, the City is working on the following AHAS projects:

• Multi-Family Tax Exemption
• Surplus Land Policy
• Streamlined Permit Review Process
• Inclusionary Zoning and Diverse Housing Types
• New Homebuyer Assistance
• Affordable Housing Fund
• Owner Occupied Housing Repair
• Improved Tracking and Monitoring
• Tenant Protections
• Resources for Housing and Rental Assistance
• Low-Income Homeowner Relief

Highlights and outcomes in 2022 related to these projects include:

• 35 units of affordable housing targeted to a population at or below 80% AMI completed construction
• 66 units of affordable housing nearing construction completion (57 new permanent supportive housing units targeted to 60% AMI or below, and 9 new affordable homeownership units targeted to 80% AMI) and an estimated 622 affordable units with funding commitments from the City in the pipeline​
• 19 MFTE projects approved for a total of 1296 units, 177 of which serve households below 80% AMI and 79 of which serve households below 70% AMI.​
• Foreclosure prevention program has assisted 99 households to date, 36% were people of color, totaling $502,606​
• 10 Single Family Repair projects completed, 3 more set to begin construction​
• Utility assistance programs served 6334 households through July 2022​
• Since 2021, the City has provided 1,066 households with $7,909,651 in emergency rental assistance, 65% of which were headed by a person of color​
• 830 Tacomans served through Landlord Tenant Program through August​
• 16 families served through the Tenant Relocation program through September

Home in Tacoma Phase 2 was included in the presentation, and a more in depth presentation about phase 2 will be made tomorrow, October 12, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. on ZOOM or in person at the Tacoma Municipal Building Room 248 by Senior Planner and Project Lead, Elliott Barnett to the Infrastructure Planning and Sustainability Committee.

For more information about AHAS visit cityoftacoma.org/AHAS. To see the full study session presentation, visit cityoftacoma.org/TVTacoma.

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