Homes For All is on Kalamazoo County Ballot

Stephanie Hoffman

For Stephanie Hoffman, Executive Director of Open Doors in Kalamazoo and co-chair of the Homes For All Committee, the need for more affordable housing in Kalamazoo County has only been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Homes For All is a funding proposal that is on the general election ballot in Kalamazoo County, for a 0.75 millage on property tax for eight years to address the issue of affordable housing.

"You can't stay-in-place if you don't have a place to stay," she says, referring to the emergency order given in the early weeks of Covid. "The numbers of homeless [families and individuals] have increased exponentially."

According to Homes For All literature, in January more than 700 homeless individuals were identified in Kalamazoo County. And the county saw nearly 400 new eviction notices in the last two weeks of July.

The funds raised by the Homes For All millage will go towards a variety of measures. They include rental subsidies, development of permanent housing and supportive services for county residents that tend to be excluded from housing opportunities.

For a homeowner with a property valued at $100,000, the Homes For All mileage would result in a property tax increase of $38 a year.

Kalamazoo voters have already shown their support for affordable housing. A similar millage was passed in 2015, with a six-year timeframe, raising about $800,000 each year, helping over 500 families with children.

"This time we're expanding our assets for safe, affordable housing to include not just school-age children, but children zero to twelfth grade, as well as older adults, people with disabilities and veterans," Hoffman explains. 

The crux of the matter, says Hoffman is that "there's a lot of development happening, particularly downtown, but it's not low-to-moderate housing."

Given the current state of the economy, Hoffman points out that "we can't just rely on state government [for housing funding].  

Fortunately, says Hoffman, "Kalamazoo is a city and a county that loves and cares for all its residents."

According to the Homes For All website, the purpose of the millage is to:
- fund long-term homes for children and their families;
- build new affordable homes;
- renovate blighted properties;
- provide rental assistance to homeless individuals;
- establish paths to home-ownership for Kalamazoo County residents historically excluded from those opportunities.

The City of Ann Arbor will also have a millage proposal (of 1 mill over 20 years) to address the issue of housing on the November 3rd ballot.

For more information on the Homes For All proposal, click here.