Miami mayor proposes helping seniors in subsidized housing pay for rent hikes
Miami’s government is designating $1 million for a new rent subsidy program for seniors in low-income housing who face rent increases they struggle to pay.
With a 4-1 vote, commissioners gave initial approval to the program Thursday evening as part of the city’s $1 billion proposed budget, with Commissioner Joe Carollo opposing. The budget requires a final vote Sept. 26 before taking effect at the start of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1.
Under Suarez’s proposal, the city would pay for rent increases for some of the most cost-burdened senior residents who already live in subsidized housing. People 62 years and older with a household income that is no more than 60 percent of Miami-Dade County’s area median income. Eligible residents must live in subsidized housing with no code violations and rentals located within federally designated opportunity zones.
Participants would have to provide identification, proof of monthly income, a copy of their lease and affidavit attesting that the rental unit is their primary residence. Participants could receive up to $200 a month to cover rent increases.
Suarez told the Miami Herald the program is a start that he hopes can be expanded in future years. He said his administration wanted to begin with a smaller program to tackle a corner of Miami’s housing affordability problems while not creating a large entitlement that would be susceptible to cuts if the economy went south and property tax revenue dipped.
“We understand that once you start providing assistance, it’s hard to pull it back,” he said.
The mayor said that whether the assistance is $20 or $200, the subsidy could help ease the pressure on seniors with limited budgets, especially if their Social Security payments do not keep up with rent hikes.
The subsidy is a new spending stream that might’ve been considered an unaffordable luxury a year ago, when administrators feared a budget shortfall as they settled union agreements and lawsuits, projected slower property tax revenue growth and expected voters to pass a new statewide property tax exemption that would have further cut the city’s tax revenues. Instead, tax revenue grew 10.5 percent and the exemption failed at the ballot box.
Read the proposal below:
This story was originally published September 13, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
