Today’s Lesson: What “Low-Income” Really Means
We will be brief: the chart below shows the definition of Low for Delray Beach. That range is $58,441 through $77,920. Hello? That’s Low Income? Very Low Income is anything up to $58,440, but people at the high end of that range make twice as much as someone making $15 per hour, or $30,000 per year.
City of Delray Beach
Affordable housing incomes in Delray
What about the $15 per hour people? They account for 20% of all households in our community, and there is nothing being done to provide affordable housing for them.
A person making $15 per hour can afford a monthly rent of $1,000. The newest affordable housing complex in Delray Beach Island Cove, has rents that range from $1,300-$1,600. Sorry very low-income folks; the “leaders” in Delray Beach have nothing for you. We’ve spoken many times about why it is so important to provide truly affordable housing options in our city for Very Low-Income households, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat them:
Reduces Homelessness
Provides a labor pool to local businesses
Frees up disposable income for people to spend on local businesses.
Stabilizes communities by stabilizing living conditions
In the upcoming local elections, we urge you to ask the tough questions of the candidates: what are their plans to provide affordable housing options to the Very Low-Income, not heavily subsidized Workforce Housing, but housing that people can pay for themselves? Rentals for $1,000 or less.
Don’t accept answers such as “new affordable housing in the pipeline” and “affordable housing for 80% of AMI”. There exists a significant disparity between the City of Delray Beach's definition of affordability and what genuinely qualifies as affordable housing for very low-income people.