Bill would expand ownership eligibility of Habitat for Humanity

On Jan. 1, the minimum wage in Missouri increased to $7.05 an hour. That raise, $16 a week for a full-time worker, also did something else -- it made a family of four with both parents working full time ineligible to live in taxpayer-supported housing designated for low-income people.

In response, Cape Area Habitat for Humanity asked Rep. Clint Tracy and Sen. Jason Crowell to alter the law in order to allow such families to remain eligible for the charity's homebuilding program. Both Tracy and Crowell responded by filing bills in their respective chambers to double the income limit for people who move into housing units they will own.

Habitat for Humanity relies on donations from businesses to support its housing program, said T. Robin Cole, chairman of the area chapter. In return, businesses receive a state tax credit along with federal deductions for the donations, defraying up to 89 percent of their costs for donations.

The reason for seeking the change is simple, Cole said. "We wouldn't want the numbers, the limitations on income, to collide with two adults earning the minimum wage in a way to exclude a family structure that had two adults in it."

Under the current rules, a family of four seeking to rent or buy a house or apartment restricted by law to low-income people must make no more than $27,850 annually. Two people working full time at minimum wage would earn $29,328 in a year. The current limits, based on a percentage of the median family income, range from 35 percent for a single person to 66 percent for a family of eight.

The identical bills filed by Tracy and Crowell would double the income limit for owner-occupied dwellings but leave the limit unchanged for rental housing. The change will also benefit single-earner households, where the maximum eligible wage is $13.39 an hour in a family of four.

"It was limiting the number of potential applicants for the Habitat program," said Tracy, R-Cape Girardeau. The change "doesn't cost the taxpayers any money; what it does is broaden the pool of people who would be eligible for a Habitat home and allows the Habitat vetting process to say they are eligible."

Each year, the local Habitat organization receives $300,000 worth of state tax credits that are awarded to qualified donors. The donors give money, materials, land and services to Habitat in exchange for the credits.

Raising the eligibility means Habitat can build the homes it plans and the tax credits make donations to the charity more attractive, Cole said. "They can control how their income taxes are spent by directing them to be spent on Habitat houses here and they can do $10 worth of good when their out-of-pocket costs are only $1."

Tracy said he's ready to debate anyone who thinks the proposed new limit is too high. He said he prefers to let Habitat decide who will live in the homes it builds. "Habitat has a good vetting program," he said. "Even in the example of someone who made 100 percent of the median income, there could be special needs children or a medical condition that put an extra burden on that household."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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