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Thank you for your generous contribution. Now that we have you here … Stephen Brashear / GETTY IMAGES
After making $ 110 billion in total sales last year, Microsoft is depositing a ton of money for housing in the suburbs surrounding its headquarters in Redmond. They provide $ 500 million in loans and grants over three years, with promises, according to the New York Times, to "lend money again to finance additional projects" as loans are repaid.
The company will invest all but $ 25 million in low- and middle-income housing and $ 200 million in low-income housing. To put this in perspective, Governor Jay Inslee's budget spends only $ 140 million on the preservation and construction of "approximately 2,500 affordable and innovative housing units." Microsoft President Brad Smith said at the Seattle weather He hopes that Microsoft 's money will enable the construction of "tens of thousands of units".
It is impossible to exaggerate the magnitude and urgency of the housing crisis in the region. Last month, the regional affordable housing task force determined that the county needed to build 156,000 affordable housing units today and 88,000 affordable housing units by 2040 … if we want all families low-income King County have a safe and healthy home. which costs less than 30% of their income. "So we have to build 244,000 housing units in 20 years – and 156,000 of these units yesterday – otherwise we would become San Francisco.
And the number could be higher than that. At a presentation officially announcing Microsoft's commitment on Thursday morning, Smith said his own study reveals a deficit of 300,000 homes.
Claudia Balducci, a member of King County Council, who represents Bellevue, said that Microsoft's investment would make a "big difference" on the east side. She described housing costs in the region as "ridiculous", adding that fixed-income seniors can not afford rising costs, young professionals can not live where they used to be, and workers in many industries on which Bellevue depends can not live. to afford to live in the city at all. "It's a crisis for a lot of people," said Balducci, adding, "Our police chief has said publicly that he can not afford to live in the city he serves – and he's the head of police!"
Balducci said that Microsoft's money would help address the housing shortage. She hopes this investment will create a "virtuous cycle", encouraging other companies, cities and county governments to do more.
The Washington Community Action Network organizer, Xochitl Maykovich, said that she did not feel she had any positive feelings about this new development, but that is the case.
"Would I prefer that we have a large corporate tax, so we do not rely on companies like Microsoft to arbitrarily decide to give the necessary resources? Yes," said Maykovich. "But the fact that they recognize that they are creating and contributing in some way to the housing crisis is positive, and when a business gives a lot of money, we can not just spit on it."
But Maykovich warned that money was not the only thing the region needed to solve the crisis. "If they want their money to go further, they must push for reforms at the city and state level," she said.
Microsoft, for example, is adding $ 5 million to the Mariners Home Base project, which will "beef up the King County Bar Association legal clinic for tenants threatened with eviction," the source said. Time. But Mr Maykovich said that much of this money would be wasted because we have draconian and embarrbading expulsion laws. In other states, renters are not obliged to pay the legal fees of their landlord after their eviction, sometimes after missing only one month's rent. And homeowners can not rule out fees such as late fees and utility costs. But in Washington, they can do all that. Thus, Microsoft's money and Mariners will be used to repay expenses that we should not even pay in the first place.
Washington State House Representative Nicole Macri is planning to introduce a bill during this session that would reform our silly system of deportation. "If Microsoft wants to tackle this unfair and ineffective process, then they should be fully badociated with this bill," said Maykovich.
Marty Kooistra, executive director of the Housing Development Consortium, said the group was "delighted with the leadership demonstrated by Microsoft with this investment." He thinks this measure could help "end the dissent" that followed the controversial debate over Seattle entry taxes last year and encourage people to "meet in all sectors to find solutions "to the housing crisis.
But Kooistra would also like to see Microsoft "empower and inspire" the 47,000 corporate employees to participate in housing advocacy at the city, county, state and even federal government levels . "I would encourage them to continue to ensure that there are more educational opportunities for their employees so that everyone knows how they can engage on this issue", did he declare.
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