Add affordable housing to the list of tax measures Tacoma voters will vote on this fall.

Tacoma City Council members approved an ordinance Tuesday placing a proposition on the Nov. 8 ballot asking voters to decide whether to raise taxes to help low-income people afford decent housing.

If approved by voters, the levy would generate an estimated $15 million over six years and help produce or refurbish about 740 rental units or houses. It would cost homeowners 18 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or approximately $32 per year for the owner of a home valued at $180,000.

Proponents point to the soaring cost of housing, which is shooting up faster than wages, as evidence of the need.

Just 55 percent of Tacoma residents own their own homes, compared to the national average of 67 percent, officials said, and nearly half of all households in Tacoma are considered low-income.

“Living in the city is becoming increasingly unaffordable,” said Tess Colby, part of the Tacoma/Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium.

The proposal will be competing with several other tax measures this fall, including a $45 million bond to renovate the Tacoma Dome and an $84.3 million Metro Parks bond. The Dome bond will be on the September primary ballot, while the parks bond is expected to be on the November ballot.

Council members voted 7-1 to put the levy before voters, despite objections from Councilman Tom Stenger, who argued that council members should have seen some kind of plan for how the money will be spent before making the decision.

City staff and members of the consortium are working to update a plan created in 2001. The City Council’s neighborhood and housing committee is scheduled to discuss a financing plan Aug. 1, but that wasn’t good enough for Stenger.

Stenger first suggested the council might want to wait a week before voting on the issue, then proposed a substitute ordinance that included requiring the creation of an advisory committee, as well as rules about building design and how the housing would be spread throughout the city, and a prohibition on sex offenders or people connected to the Department of Corrections.

The substitute was shot down on a 4-3 vote, with council members Mike Lonergan and Bill Evans joining Stenger in voting in favor of it.

“This is sort of a hide-the-ball proposition we have in front of us,” Stenger said after his idea was rejected. “We don’t have any idea how the money will be spent,” adding that property taxes should not be raised to provide more housing for sex offenders.

But Councilwoman Julie Anderson and Mayor Bill Baarsma said Stenger’s substitute plan wasn’t necessary because all of the issues he’s concerned about will be addressed by the council before the November vote.

Afterward, Anderson said she was “absolutely heartbroken” by Stenger’s argument.

“What should have been a celebratory moment was hijacked by crime and pedophilia,” Anderson said. “It’s just not OK. We’ve got to change this debate. It’s just ridiculous.”

Jason Hagey: 253-597-8542
jason.hagey@thenewstribune.com