\u2018Breaking Point\u2019: Corpus Christi Agencies Push City for More Housing Funds<\/a><\/p>\nNueces County is suing the Corpus Christi Housing Authority, claiming it approved tax-abatement agreements behind closed doors…deals that would have pulled hundreds of millions of dollars in apartment properties off the tax rolls.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit comes after city and county leaders raised alarms that apartment property owners were partnering with the Housing Authority to label portions of them as \u201caffordable housing.\u201d That designation would have eliminated all of their property taxes that help fund public safety, street repairs, and other city services.<\/p>\n
County officials argue the problem isn\u2019t affordable housing itself… it\u2019s how the agreements were approved.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Brent Chesney said if the Housing Authority violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, it sets a dangerous precedent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they violated the open meetings act that we all have to follow, that can\u2019t be allowed,\u201d Chesney said. \u201cOtherwise, you\u2019re back to backroom deals and smoke-filled rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tax-abatement agreements have now been paused while the lawsuit plays out.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the program say the Housing Authority is being unfairly targeted for using a tool created by the Texas Legislature and used statewide.<\/p>\n
One of those apartment property owners is Joe Bruggeman. The Austin businessman is a member of the Save Workforce Housing Coalition. \u00a0He said similar tax-abatement agreements are common across Texas and are designed to keep rents affordable for working families.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Corpus Christi Housing Authority didn\u2019t invent this program,\u201d Bruggeman said. \u201cThere are thousands of housing authorities across Texas doing the same thing to provide affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bruggeman owns four properties tied up in the controversy. Deals that may now never move forward because of the legal fight.<\/p>\n
Even within the Housing Authority, there\u2019s disagreement over the program\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n
Board member Joe McComb said the agency\u2019s mission should focus on residents in the most dire situations and not become a long-term substitute for traditional housing solutions.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, residents like Macho Rosario, who lives at the Villas of Ocean Drive and qualifies for reduced rent, say the uncertainty is unsettling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it was taken away, it would definitely have a drastic turn on how I\u2019m living,\u201d Rosario said.<\/p>\n
City officials say they remain supportive of building new affordable housing, especially projects started from the ground up,\u00a0 but oppose removing existing, tax-paying properties from the rolls.<\/p>\n
With roughly 30,000 people still waiting for Section 8 assistance in Corpus Christi, the demand for affordable housing isn\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n
Whether these controversial deals survive could now be decided by a judge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"County leaders claim public notice was skipped. CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 The debate over affordable housing in Corpus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-105605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-corpus-christi","9":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","10":"tag-corpus-christi-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}