BOZEMAN, Mont. – Evidently the 426-page city of Bozeman Capital Improvements Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026, while exhausting, is not exhaustive enough for the current city commission.
At the behest of Deputy Mayor Cunningham the plan was amended to include directing the city staff to put in motion steps to create a $10,000,000 fund to, in some way, support affordable housing projects. Either through ballot initiated bonding or levies, the deputy mayor believes this will answer his question, “Citizens of Bozeman, how much do you care about affordable housing?” Citing “loans to projects, directly buying land, or loaning developers money” as possible uses of funds, we should ask, “what projects, what land, and which developers?”
Memories can be short but the Mandeville Farm land acquisition, lost lawsuit, and eventual disposition is an example of what can happen in the land speculation game; is this what we want the city engaged in? Will we now pick project winners and developer beneficiaries.
HRDC, Family Promise of Gallatin Valley, Habitat for Humanity, the Montana Department of Commerce, Montana MOFI and the city itself are all active with transitional housing, rental assistance, emergency housing, down payment assistance and buyer education efforts. The existence of these programs does not mean we are not facing significant challenges in creating affordable housing options. We are. Their existence does demonstrate we do care and that many are already “putting their money where their mouth is.”
Caring about affordable housing takes many forms. Solutions need to come from many directions. With the costs of living and doing business in the city continuing to rise, will adding yet another bond or levy be a solution? Will it answer the city commission’s question?
