Neighbors:
We are facing challenging times, including massive federal layoffs that are also affecting contractors that are shutting down their businesses. On top of that, we are facing a housing crisis decades in the making.
I am committed to confronting these crises head on and responsibly using every tool available to us. That means zoning reform. That means investing record levels of funding to subsidize affordable housing. And yes, that means incentivizing the conversion of unproductive office buildings into much more productive housing. To that end, earlier today the Council overrode the County Executive’s veto of my legislation (Bill 2-25) to help vacant and obsolete office buildings convert to housing with at least 17.5% being affordable. I am proud to be part of a Council that walks the walk and takes seriously the immense housing and cost of living crisis we are facing.
In addition to the needed boost in housing supply, this is a good deal for County taxpayers. These conversions will not only replace aging, vacant buildings that currently pay very little in property tax into much more valuable buildings after the tax abatement term, but they will also contribute new income tax, recordation taxes, impact taxes, and fees. For more details on the economic and fiscal case for the tax abatement, I’d encourage you to review the Council staff report.
With the price of housing putting an undeniable squeeze on working families, young professionals, and everyone wanting to call Montgomery County home, we all know that the status quo is unsustainable. We simply aren’t building enough housing to meet current demand, much less what we know we need into the future. That is causing housing prices to far outpace (11.2% increase over all housing types in 2024) than gains in income (1.7% in 2024).
Take the graph below that shows how the actual increase in housing units is lagging behind the Council of Governments (COG) housing targets for Montgomery County. Source: Department of Permitting Services and Montgomery Planning.
Sincerely,
Natali Fani-González
P.S. While we are on the topic of the cost of living, you may have seen that the County Executive has removed his recommendation for a 3.5% property tax increase and replaced it with an increase of the local income tax from 3.2% to 3.3%. The Council will be holding a public hearing on May 13 (a link to sign up here will be available later this week), and you may share written comments here.