KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Kalamazoo County commission has approved grants for millions from the voter approved housing millage to local developers for new projects despite concerns that they may not be affordable enough.
The list includes subsidies for new projects in Kalamazoo, Portage and in Comstock, but few of them will be available at rates that folks with the lowest average median income can afford.
The commission plans to discuss ways to change that in time for next year’s allocation.
Vice Chair John Taylor.
Housing Director Mary Balkema says those projects are the hardest to fund, in what has become a very pricey housing market nationwide.
She says the millage money not only funds new builds, but home repairs and other programs that support home ownership and rental assistance.
Some commissioners wanted to withdraw the approval for the City Center Project in Portage because the developer couldn’t promise how many units would be affordable.
Commissioner Jen Strebs.
They agreed to make the grant tentative, until the developer comes through with an acceptable number before final approval.
Each year the millage generates up to eight-million-dollars that the county can leverage and allocate to create new homes, and keep people from losing the homes they have.
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