April 20, 2007
Affordable Housing Advisory Committee Makes Recommendations on “One Penny” Fund
Oversight Group’s Recommendations to the Board of Supervisors Establish New Goal, Strengthen Focus on Very Low Income
At its meeting on March 23, 2007, the Fairfax County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee adopted recommendations to modify the Board of Supervisors’ “Overriding and Guiding Principles” for the use of the Penny for Affordable Housing Fund. The recommendations, which were developed principally by a special subcommittee of the Advisory Committee chaired by Kerrie Wilson of Reston Interfaith, are designed to position the Penny Fund to meet current and emerging needs. 

The recommendations include:

• Setting a new goal of preserving or producing an additional 2,200 units using the Penny Fund from Fiscal Year 2008 - 2011;
• Establishing a guideline that, in projects using the Penny Fund, a minimum of 50 percent of the units should be affordable to households earning 50 percent of the Area Median Income or below;
• Designating special needs, senior and Single Room Occupancy (SRO)/Residential Studio Unit (RSU) housing and low-income homeownership as the types of projects in which the Penny Find may be used for new construction; and
• Investing the Penny Fund and other resources in the preservation and development of SRO/ RSU housing. 

The recommendations will be presented to the Housing Committee of the Board of Supervisors for consideration at its meeting on April 23, 2007.  The meeting is scheduled to take place at 3 PM in Conference Rooms 4 and 5 of the Fairfax County Government Center.  To read the full recommendations report by the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, please click here.