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2001 Comprehensive Plan Amended February 26, 2002 560 senior housing units including both subsidized and market rate units. This supply falls well short of serving the senior housing population that is expected to need housing by the year 2005.5 C. Affordability Affordability is an often-debated subject as to how much is really affordable. State Legislature has defined affordable housing within the Metropolitan Area through the Livable Communities Act. The definition is as follows: · Affordable housing costs no more than 30% ofa household's monthly income for rent or mortgage payments.6 Given this definition for affordable housing, the Metropolitan Council established goals for metro wide affordable housing. Those goals are: · Owner occupied housing should be affordable to households at 80% of the metro median income ($43,680 annual income) which would equate to a housing cost of $120,000 or less or monthly payment near 30% of $3,640 (approximately $1,090). · Rental housing should be affordable to households at 50% of the metro median income (or $27,300) which would equate to rents of $685 per month or 30% of $2,225. According to this definition of affordable housing, a majority of the existing owner occupied housing in Ramsey (60%) is considered affordable. Ramsey continues to provide housing that is more affordable than metropolitan communities on the fringe of the metropolitan areas. Of the 11 homes in Ramsey listed in the 1998 Parade of Homes Showcase sponsored by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities, 5 homes were listed for less than $135,000 and all but two builders indicate that they have products for less than $135,000. For sake of comparison, 11% of all listings in the Parade of Home Showcase were below $135,000, while 45% of listings in Ramsey were below $135,000. Another important aspect of affordable housing is the livable wage issue. The number of jobs in Ramsey that only pay $9 to $12 per hour creates a need for affordable rental housing. Ideally, a single person must earn a wage of nearly $20 per hour to afford a mortgage payment on a house for a home classified as affordable by the above definition. The majority of jobs in Ramsey do not pay these types of wages making Ramsey's existing housing supply affordable to only a few one income earning households. However, apartment units would be affordable to a single person earning a wage of $13 per hour. Lack of apartment buildings and residential rental opportunities in Ramsey makes housing largely unaffordable to single individuals including senior citizens. The City should not focus solely on providing affordable multi-family housing as market rate multi-family is also at a shortage in Ramsey. s Community Partners Research, Inc. Ramsev Senior Housing Market Study, January 1998 pages 23-25. 6 Metropolitan Council Data Center "Livable Commumties Act, Report on Affordable & Life-Cycle Housing" February, 1998 2001 Ramsey Comprehensive Plan Page FlI-3 Amended February 26, 2002