SANTA PAULA/OJAI : Low-Cost Housing Program in Danger

A federal and state program to build low-income housing through the use of tax credits has expired, threatening a program that has helped fund low-cost units in Santa Paula and Ojai.

State Treasurer Kathleen Brown said Thursday that federal action is needed to preserve the program, which officials say has helped pay for 31,524 low-cost housing units in California since 1987.

“California would not see the thousands of affordable housing units constructed each year if it were not for this program,” Brown said.

The final allocation of $34 million in combined state and federal tax credits will help build 3,278 more units, bringing the 1992 total to 8,665 low-cost units, she said.

Brown announced that she has written President-elect Bill Clinton, asking him to back new legislation to revive the program, which expired June 30.

Funding from the tax credits has helped Ventura County’s Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. to develop 161 units of low-income housing, said Jess Ornelas, a project manager with the nonprofit agency. Tax credits were a significant part of the funding for the Santa Paulan, a 150-unit senior housing project in Santa Paula, and the cooperatively owned 21-unit Montgomery Oaks in Ojai.

To qualify for the credits, a developer must promise to rent or sell housing units at rates that are affordable to individuals or families whose income is 60% of the area’s median income. The units must remain affordable under the guidelines for 55 years.