Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels today recommended a $95 million Housing Levy package that will support housing for more than 2,000 households over six years.

"Our goal is simple: to expand our stock of affordable housing," Nickels said. "The Seattle Housing Levy can continue to be a vital resource for making a difference in people's lives. There is a lot of pressure to propose a larger levy, but we're in tough economic times. This is a fiscally responsible amount that will allow us to continue the great tradition of the Housing Levy, and to make a few innovations."

"The Housing Levy is vital to our health as a city," said Councilmember Richard McIver. "Without it we can't hope to keep up with the demand we face for affordable rental housing."

A major element of Mayor Nickels' $95 Million, six-year Housing Levy is rental production and preservation. More than $54 Million is designated in the Mayor's recommendation to produce 1,445 rental housing units.

Emergency housing payment assistance is included in the levy for the first time to support families who are on the verge of losing housing because they can't make a payment. The $4.9 Million fund will provide a couple of months' payments, and is expected to help about 5,000 households.

The proposal also strengthens a small and successful Neighborhood Community Development Opportunity Fund. The $9 Million program will help retain economic diversity in neighborhoods on the rise, and will provide a catalyst to development in distressed areas of the city.

A fourth major component of Mayor Nickels' proposal is a boost in the homeownership assistance fund. Seattle has a 48% homeownership rate, compared to a national rate of 67%. The proposed Housing Levy homeownership program, at $11.4 Million, will provide homebuyer assistance to more than 500 households.

"These are hardworking Seattle families who have homeownership in their sights, but not yet within their grasp," said Nickels.

A Citizens' Advisory Committee co-chaired by former Mayors Norm Rice and Charles Royer last month made recommendations to Nickels about the Housing Levy. His recommendation now goes to the Seattle City Council, which will prepare a ballot initiative for the fall.

An additional amount, $10,5 Million, will help subsidize operating and maintenance costs for extremely low-income families and people with disabilities.

Administrative costs represent $5 Million of the levy, or 5.3 percent of the total levy.

The mayor's new levy proposal is the fourth opportunity for voters to approve an affordable-housing initiative. Voters said yes to similar ballot measures in 1981, 1986 and, most recently, in 1995. Each past Levy has outperformed its goals and City-funded projects have received funding from other sources, leveraging about $4 for every dollar of Levy funds.

For more information on the Housing Levy, please visit the web site at http://www.cityofseattle.net/housing/Levy.htm.