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On Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Chairman Congressman Davidson and Ranking Member Congressman Cleaver will host a field hearing entitled, “Restoring Prosperity in American Communities: Examining the Failures of Status Quo Housing Policy."
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Witnesses for this one-panel hearing will be:
• The Honorable Teresa M. Kenny, Supervisor, Town of Orangetown, NY
• Mr. John Ketcham, Fellow and Director of Cities, Manhattan Institute
• Mr. Ralph D. Amicucci, Amicucci Associates, P.C., Attorneys at Law, on behalf of the Institute of Real Estate Management, New York Chapter
• Ms. Leah Goodridge, Managing Attorney for Housing Policy, Mobilization for Justice
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Summary
The hearing will explore the housing market challenges in the Rockland County, New York, area that have led to inaccessible and unaffordable options for local residents. The Committee will explore how government overreach - whether through taxation, regulatory mandates, or disincentives for growth - hampers housing and economic development, diminishing the choices available to homeowners and renters. As a suburban area outside a major high-cost metropolitan region, Rockland County provides a good case study on how various state and local policies from Albany, the state’s capital, and New York City, the state’s largest city, are impacting local housing and economic affordability.
Location and Local Housing Challenges
Rockland County is a suburb of New York City, located on the Hudson River about 15 miles north of Manhattan. It is one of the oldest and most historic regions in the state, with permanent settlers arriving in the late 17th century. The County falls on the southern edge of New York’s Hudson Valley, which runs along the banks of the Hudson River from Westchester County in the south to Albany in the north. According to the Census Bureau, Rockland County had a population of just over 339,000 in 2022.
Rockland County has a median household income of about $106,0002 and an average home price of about $609,000. This more than 5-to-1 home price to household income ratio contributes to some of the housing affordability challenges local areas residents experience today. Adding further affordability pressure has been statewide high growth in rent, which increased by an average of 12 percent between 2022-23.
Rockland and its adjacent counties have been hit particularly hard by this trend. According to Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress: “Over the past five years, rents across our region have increased by anywhere between 25- 45%.”
Combined, these challenges rank Rockland County as one of the most affordability challenged counties for both homeowners and renters in New York state:
Also contributing to these local affordability challenges is the high tax burden faced by residents of New York state. New York consistently has one of the highest individual income tax rates in the nation. That cost is exacerbated by an equally high property tax burden. According to the Tax Foundation, Rockland County is one of 11 counties in the United States with the highest median property tax payments, exceeding $10,000 per property. Property tax collection on average accounts for 72.2 percent of total revenues collected by localities across the country, averaging $1,682 per property.7
External Drivers of Housing Unaffordability
In addition to its own challenges, Rockland County has been subjected to additional pressures from both its state government in Albany in the north and the impact of decisions made by New York City to the south. These decisions have created regulatory and financial burdens on Rockland County officials and residents in meeting their local housing needs.
New York State Impact: Government Mandates and Regulatory Changes
At the state-level, New York has often been prescriptive and heavy-handed in applying broad housing mandates on local communities. Many of these policies may be well-intentioned efforts by Albany to address the state’s overall housing shortfall. However, they carry a disproportionate cost for counties like Rockland. Oftentimes, Albany fails to seek out or incorporate local feedback on its policies, consider inherent regional differences between communities within the state, and respect the undeniable rights of local governments to determine their own local needs, zoning and land use rules, and financial obligations. Examples of such mandates include:
• 2019 New York State Rent Law: This 2019 state...
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Hearing page: democrats-fina...
21 фев 2024
