Minneapolis Mayor Pushing to Fund a Slew of Programs to Make Housing More Affordable

Affordable housing is a growing issue in Minneapolis, where median home prices have increased along with the population but the number of new homes built has not kept pace. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has proposed to put $40 million of the city’s $1.55 billion budget toward a long list of new and existing programs to boost affordable housing.

The largest portion, over $20 million, would go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Program to help finance affordable and mixed-income housing projects. Frey also wants to fund a series of new programs, including Healthy Homes, Healthy Schools, a program to support schoolchildren struggling with homelessness as well as a program to provide legal aid to people facing eviction and a program called Affordable Missing Middle, a pilot project to build affordable housing on city-owned property.

The Minneapolis City Council is reviewing the budget proposal [PDF] and plans to approve a final budget for 2019 in December.