If this was in already in effect, an additional $25 million in taxpayer dollars would have gone to affordable housing this year.
???? Love Philly? Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day. Philadelphia’s Housing Trust Fund was established in 2005, thanks in part to a campaign led by the more than 90 advocacy groups which make up the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC). It’s one of more than 800 housing trust funds across the country which are designed to meet their constituents’ most urgent housing needs. Whenever a mortgage or deed is recorded in Philadelphia, a portion of the fee goes into the Housing Trust Fund. Fees paid by developers for zoning bonuses are also funneled into the fund. On top of those ongoing funding sources, Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council struck an agreement in 2018 which allotted $20 million per year, for five years, to the Housing Trust Fund — although that funding was not provided last year amid pandemic budget constraints. In 2021, the Kenney administration outlined the priorities for Housing Trust Fund resources: the development of new affordable housing units and preservation of existing affordable housing; home repairs; assistance for first-time homeowners; and homeless prevention and special needs housing.
