Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava addresses affordable housing, budget at town hall meeting
MIAMI LAKES - Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava addressed a packed room in Miami Lakes Tuesday evening to discuss the county's budget proposal and housing help.
"The price of housing has just skyrocketed, and it is really impossible for everyday, working people and families to afford to pay rent, or to maintain their mortgages, insurance, and the like," she told CBS 4. "So, we've been able to put together a transformational program called HOMES."
She said the aim is to help tenants, landlords and developers with goals like restoring housing, and reducing the price of rent.
According to the site Rent Cafe, in Miami-Dade, the average rent for a 1-bedroom, 800-square-foot apartment is $2,300.
The Miami Association of Realtors says the median sale price of a home is $570,000.
"For the last 13 years, we've had an interest rate of 2.5 percent, 3.5 percent, and those percentages were very low, so people have gotten accustomed to that," said Angelique Hibbert, with the Miami Association of Realtors. "Now, it's a big shocker-- 5.25%, 6%."
She attended the meeting to learn more about the HOMES program and the breakdown of how that money was being spent.
"I like the fact that, of the 85 million dollars proposed, 10 million of that is going toward assisting landlords to help stabilize rents," she said.
A landlord at the meeting who said she could benefit from that is Lynda Harris.
"We're here to make it a win-win. We want quality tenants, just as much as they want quality units, said Harris. "Together, along with a partner like the county, we all can make this happen. We don't want to kick people out. We know you have children. We know that the cost of living is going up more than your salary."
Nothing has been approved yet. The final county budget hearing will happen on September 20th at 5 p.m.
The mayor also said there are 14,000 units of affordable housing in development, with the goal of another 18,000 by 2023.
The housing crisis is leaving many desperate for help. That's why CBS News Miami wants to share your stories to show the crisis you're in or how you navigated the system. We will highlight these issues and work to get answers and solutions. Send us an email at housing@cbs.com.