Proposed budget includes $85M for ‘housing affordability crisis’

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Monday that the proposed 2022-23 budget includes $85 million that will be devoted to solutions for the housing affordability crisis.

If Miami-Dade County commissioners vote to approve her budget in September, Levine Cava said she will be able to strengthen the HOMES Plan, which she launched earlier this year.

“With this plan, we’re looking to provide direct support to residents across our community, from middle-class families who own their homes and are behind on their bills, or those whose rents have skyrocketed, to low-income households and those experiencing homelessness, as well as small landlords and the developers who are building new housing to meet our community’s needs,” Levine Cava said.

The HOMES Plan includes a $25 million program that Levine Cava said will provide up to $1,500 to homeowners who are behind on their mortgage, insurance, homeowners association fees, or utility payments.

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The plan includes several other programs that aim to preserve the existing inventory of affordable housing, expand the supply of workforce housing, expand the emergency rental assistance program, and support new housing projects.

Ron Book, the chairman of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, celebrated Levine Cava’s efforts.

“This begins the final pieces of ending homelessness in our community,” Book said.