At the risk of turning this space into a math quiz, let’s consider a few numbers that surfaced recently with regards to affordable housing.
Capitol News Illinois reported Monday on the local impact of a 12% increase in the federal Low-Income Tax Housing Credit. That extrapolates to up to 34,700 new affordable units here with advocates projecting a $2 billion tax revenue boost.
That seemingly implies each new affordable unit can generate $57,636 in taxes for state and local governments. (As with all things real estate, location is a major factor.) Obviously, that revenue is intertwined with all sorts of other streams, and new housing generally means new government expenses (infrastructure, classroom space, first responder coverage), but $2 billion is an impressive number.
It’s important to note we’re not idle. For fiscal 2025, the Illinois Housing Development Authority awarded $24 million in federal credits to 16 developers. According to CNI, “an investor makes a capital contribution toward the project in exchange for being given the credits, which puts the burden on private investors if the project falls through.”
But that’s the construction side. What about actually finding a place and moving in? If you’re reading this on newsprint, flip back to the classified section and look at the current housing ads for some context. Or consider the professional perspective.
After recent columns about homelessness and affordable housing, Housing Action Illinois wrote to spotlight its partnership with the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The agencies combine on a rental housing study titled Out of Reach, which this year determined a full-time worker in Illinois needs an hourly salary of $29.81 to afford the market price of a two-bedroom apartment.
As an annual salary, that’s $62,000. It’s also a statewide figure. In the Kendall County metro area, the number is $36.27 per hour, or more than $75,000 per year. The lowest the study found was some rural areas where $16.73 is sufficient, a bit less than $35,000 annually and much closer to the $15 minimum wage.
Taking a break from math, let’s move to social studies: where are these units being built? There are plenty of lots across the state, either undeveloped or vacant/abandoned housing that could be repurposed, but are there jobs in those communities that would give people reason to move?
Even if we all agree on the communities where people need or want to locate, finding sites acceptable to everyone who already lives there is often an even taller task.
As I wrote on July 3, if private sector investors saw these deficits as profit opportunities, the government wouldn’t need to be involved. Large swaths of Illinois still have significant shortages that won’t be solved with the ideas currently on the table.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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