To the editor,
I have been listening in online lately to the city council meetings. Thank you for providing this service.
It has been troubling my heart as I listen to citizens of our town talk about “those people” that they don’t want living in our town. Who, I ask, are “those people”. One would infer from these conversations that they are the lawless, the drug addicted, welfare moms, illegal immigrants and generally undesirable. Let me tell you that many of “those people” are already living here. Just looking at the increase of the demands of the food pantry would signal that “those people” are already in our community. Another indicator is the existence of a homeless coalition in Jefferson. Some of them are disabled or seniors living solely on social security. Some of them are the working poor, unable to afford a decent place to live. They are our fellow human beings.
I was one of “those people.” There was a time in my childhood where my parents were “those people.” They were the working poor. It was during the farm crisis in the 70’s. My dad sold feed for livestock and farmers were selling off their livestock because they could no longer afford to feed them. He took a second job in a factory working the night shift. My mom worked in a retail store. They always had a garden to supplement our food supply. They were not spending their money on drugs and alcohol. My sister and I wore hand me down clothes. It was still a hardship. We could no longer afford the rent where were living and we had to move. We moved to a run down farmhouse where the rent was free. That also meant that no repairs were being done by the landlord. The repairs fell to my parents and some months the repairs were more costly than rent would have been.
Many struggling people already here in Jefferson are having a difficult time finding a decent, affordable place to live. Rentals homes are in short supply and may not be in reach for those who have a lower income. I have followed a local social media page where a father is desperately looking for a two-bedroom place for his family because his current rental home has been sold. He is facing homelessness.
According to the Social Security Administration, as of January 2024 the average benefit for seniors is $1,770.71 and disability benefits are $1,537.03. It is not sustainable to pay rent of $1,000 a month. A worker making $15 an hour, working 40 hours a week for 52 weeks makes $31,200 a year. That is $2,600 a month. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Common practices suggest that one not spend more than 30% of income for housing. That would mean that a maximum that someone making $15 an hour should spend on housing is $780 a month.
Do I like the location of the proposed housing development? No, I don’t. I think citizens of our city deserve better than apartments in an area zoned for light industrial. Better than an area right next to the railroad tracks that is in a flood plain.
We need more housing like the Walton Woods development. My parents used to manage this subsidized housing project. At the time, there was always a wait list for these small but clean and well-kept apartments. This is an example of how income based housing is a good thing for a community. The subsidies do not cost us additional monies. It is coming out of the income taxes we are already paying. Why not bring some of that money that we are paying to increase clean and affordable housing to Jefferson?
Let me also give you my understanding of how tax abatement works. Underdeveloped properties do not generate a lot of taxable income for a town. Developing a property increases it’s value and thus the tax base. An abatement does not cost the taxpayer money; it just delays when the property is added to the tax rolls. After a period of time it will generate more money than it previously did as an empty lot. Is the tax abatement too long? Perhaps, but that has been decided years ago and cannot be judged on a case-by-case basis.
I don’t believe that the members of the city council are being self-serving. I think that they are trying to address a need in our community to increase housing and to help employers and schools grow our town responsibly. Please have compassion and respect for our fellow human beings in this room and in this town even if it is for “those people.”
LeAnn Monaghan, Jefferson
