There are many actions that the Georgetown City Council could take to increase the affordable housing in Georgetown. The first is to define affordable housing.
Councilman Fought has suggested the definition of affordable housing be broken down into three categories; The first being the working poor that make approximately $30,000/year; secondly, those who have no or very low incomes per year; thirdly, seniors that are living on low fixed incomes.
With respect to the first category, which includes beginning firemen and policemen, the city should effect the following:
1. Keep the city budget constrained to population growth plus inflation.
2. Minimize or eliminate city permits,fees and charges for those who build or modify homes for this category of users.
3. Assure that zoning and land use supports the development of affordable housing for moderate incomes.
4. Eliminate the use of International Building Codes for this class of housing. Develop Georgetown Texas specific codes.
5. Streamline/minimize the approval process for the development of moderate income housing.
There are likely other actions that can be taken, but, these would be a good start.
Additional information needs to be developed by the city to address whether or not categories 2 and 3 are an issue.
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