Four North Carolina cities and towns voted on housing bond proposals in the 2024 general election. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
On Tuesday, voters in Cary, one of the state’s wealthiest cities, narrowly defeated a $30 million bond referendum to support affordable housing.
Meanwhile, voters in Asheville, Charlotte and Chapel Hill approved housing bonds totaling $135 million. The results are unofficial.
In Cary, 51.48% of the electorate voted against the referendum, while 48.52% marked ballots in favor. Cary voters also defeated a parks and recreation bond by a wide margin — 55.19% against to 44.81% in favor of the bond. The bond totaled $530 million, most of which was earmarked for three new community/senior center projects.
The housing bond would have supported programs and initiatives in the Cary Community Plan vision and 2021 Cary Housing Plan. Those goals include new housing opportunities, preservation of existing housing, housing instability support, and nonprofit partnerships. The bond funds would have financed housing initiatives that target residents who earn up to 60% and up to 80% of the area’s median income.
In Charlotte, a $100 million bond referendum received stout support, winning the approval of 63.56% of Queen City voters. A little more than 36% of voters said no to the referendum.
Of the $100 million referendum, $35 million will go to produce rental housing and to improve homeownership opportunities. The housing bond will also provide $14 million for rental housing preservation and anti-displacement; $9 million for supportive housing and increasing shelter capacity and $5 million for building rehab and emergency repairs.
In Asheville, voters approved a $20 million housing bond with 70.92% of the vote. Just under 30% of the city’s electorate voted against the bond.
The $20 million bond is intended to supplement the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which offers low-or no-interest loans to groups that make investments in affordable homes; support homeownership through down payment assistance and purchase land and existing homes for future affordable housing. A portion of bond funds would also support homeownership through home repair programs.
The bond issue in Asheville comes as that city and others in western North Carolina struggle to recover from Hurricane Helene. It is estimated that the historic storm caused nearly $15 billion in damage to the region’s housing stock.
Meanwhile, Chapel Hill voters approved a $15 million housing bond to support development of affordable housing projects that align with the Town’s Affordable Housing Plan and Investment Strategy. Projects funded through this bond order may construct new affordable housing, preserve existing affordable housing, or acquire property to be used for affordable housing. Bond funds would also allow the town to leverage state and federal funding as well as local and regional partnerships.
Impending debates at the federal level
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was defeated in her bid for the presidency Tuesday by former President Donald Trump, had made affordable housing a key part of her campaign for president. Harris pledged to build 3 million new houses during her first time to curb a housing shortage and to create a $25,000 downpayment assistance program for first-time homebuyers. First-time homebuyers who have paid rent on time for two years would be eligible for the downpayment assistance.
Trump has been less clear about his plans to tackle the nation’s housing crisis. He has proposed opening more federal lands for housing and slashing regulations to make it easier for developers to build.
The National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) issued a statement Wednesday pledging to fight any of President-elect Trump’s housing policies the organization believes “undermines housing justice, exacerbates racial and social inequities and worsen America’s housing and homelessness crisis.” The organization, however, said it “may support” Trump’s proposal to open up more federal land for housing and to reduce regulations that drive up housing costs.
“The high cost of housing was a top election issue for voters in 2024, and voters made it clear that they want policymakers at all levels of government to advance solutions,” said NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel. “NLIHC urges President-elect Trump to work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to enact meaningful affordable housing solutions and to leave behind the divisive, hateful and harmful rhetoric too often used during his campaign.”
Yentel noted that NLIHC and its partners successfully defeated many extreme policies during President Trump’s first term, and are prepared to do the same in his second presidency.
“NLIHC will also – as it always has done – look for potential areas of agreement with all policymakers to advance solutions that protect tenants, alleviate the housing crisis, and advance racial and housing justice.”
During his past presidency, the NLIHC said, Trump and his administration proposed several measures that would have significantly worsened America’s housing and homelessness crisis. Each of his four annual budget requests proposed to slash federal investments in affordable housing, the organization said. The organization said Trump’s administration also proposed raising rents on households living in HUD-assisted housing and imposing rigid work requirements and attempted to force mixed-status immigrant households to break up or face eviction.
NLIHC did credit Trump for signing into law billions of dollars to address urgent health and housing needs during the pandemic, including $25 billion for emergency rental assistance, and implemented a national eviction ban to help keep families stably housed.