Editor’s note: This commentary is by Erik Hoekstra, who is development manager at Redstone and lives in the Old North End of Burlington.
[O]ver the last 15 years, my work has centered on housing and responsible redevelopment in Burlington. I live here with my wife and we are deeply committed to the success of this great place. Redstone has decades of experience building and redeveloping buildings that make our city more accessible and walkable while enhancing our quality of life. We’re also very proud to be an active member of the community serving on boards and supporting vital community organizations.
Access to housing in Burlington is among our city’s greatest challenges. This is true for residents across the income spectrum. It is critically important that we encourage responsible development of new housing in the city to meet growing demand. However, high development costs, including high property taxes impede new development or redevelopment and drive up rents, making our city less affordable, squeezing out too many.
Over the past five years, Redstone has been involved in the completion of 230 new mixed-income apartments in Burlington in five locations. This is a significant portion of the new rental housing created in the past 40 years after a long period with almost no new unsubsidized rental housing in the city.
Property taxes are the largest operating expense for rental housing, directly contributing to the financial feasibility of potential projects. A recent assessment pending before the city for a new building in the Old North End has caused significant concern. The mayor and City Council are currently considering how to handle the appeal. I am concerned that if this tax assessment isn’t modified, it is a threat to the future of housing development in Burlington
We hope the council and the mayor will take a hard look at the challenges we face in Burlington with property tax assessments and seek to find a sensible and fair solution.
The reason is simple, Redstone and other good intentioned developers will not be able address our city’s housing needs because financing new development will not be feasible with such a high tax burden. As someone who lives in the Old North End and hopes to raise a family in Burlington, this is incredibly discouraging. This has serious implications for all of us who live and work in this city.
We hope the council and the mayor will take a hard look at the challenges we face in Burlington with property tax assessments and seek to find a sensible and fair solution. I want all of us to have the same opportunity to live and work and succeed in Burlington no matter our economic situation. In order to do that, we need a tax policy that is fair to all residents. We all hear too often that the cost of housing in Burlington is prohibitive. We want everyone to have the highest quality of life and the ability to live in a place where they can walk and bike to work, school, parks, shops, restaurants and other community resources.
I am hopeful that Burlington will continue to address our housing crisis head-on in a proactive way that includes due consideration of property tax policy.
