Chairwoman Baskin Spearheads Passage of the Affordable Housing Act in the County Legislature

Hon. April N. M. Baskin

February 1st (2024), the Erie County Legislature passed the Erie County Affordable Housing Act. When signed into law, it will authorize the county to fund the development of affordable housing throughout Erie County to address the housing crisis that is impacting many residents across our community.

According to US Census Data, 28% of Erie County residents are “housing burdened.” This means that these residents are spending more than 30% of their income on housing, which is a benchmark set by the federal government for how much a household should be spending on housing.

Many counties across the state have adopted similar laws to clear any ambiguity on the role of County government when it comes to affordable housing by explicitly identifying it as a popper public purpose that can be addressed through County funding.

“The Legislature declaring that affordable housing is a public purpose that Erie County should consider addressing is just the first step in a complex process on figuring out how we can assist alleviating the housing burden that is impacting our residents” Chairwoman April Baskin said.

Addressing affordable housing is not new to the County. The Erie County Department of Environment and Planning issued a RFP for Affordable Multi-Family Rental Housing Developers requesting a portion of the ARP funds receiving 26 applications seeking development of a total of 1,989 affordable units in Erie County.