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Planning department urges continued Affordable Housing Trust funding as revenue sources shrink
Summary
Planning and Community Development staff told the Select Board the Affordable Housing Trust is nearly fully committed and requested maintaining a $1.6 million line item for FY26 to support preservation and new units; staff also summarized comprehensive plan and Chestnut Hill study progress.
Kara Brida, director of Planning and Community Development, briefed the Select Board on FY25 accomplishments and FY26 priorities, focusing on the comprehensive plan, affordable housing financing and commercial-area studies.
Key points: - Comprehensive plan: public process launched; staff received more than 10,900 public comments during the outreach phase and plan work will continue into FY26. - Affordable Housing Trust: the fund was started in 1998 and much of it is committed to projects; since 2019 the trust has funded 171 new units and rehabbed or replaced another 159 units. Brida requested the FY26 budget maintain a $1.6 million line item for the Housing Trust to preserve and leverage local funds with state matching programs. - Revenue pressures: inclusionary-payment revenue (payments in lieu of on-site affordable units) spiked in recent years due to a few large projects and is expected to fall back below $400,000 annually; that decline increases demand on local trust and free‑cash resources. - Projects: staff highlighted ongoing work helping the Brookline Housing Authority and the Brookline Community Development Corporation finalize designs and secure federal funding; staff also briefed the board on Chestnut Hill commercial-area study and Fisher Hill West advisory committee activities.
Why it matters: Local housing preservation and new affordable-unit production rely on a mix of state, federal and town funding; declining one-time private payments and constrained CPA priorities increase pressure on the town’s Housing Trust to respond to preservation needs.
Next steps: Staff will continue outreach for the comprehensive plan, pursue conditional grants for Chestnut Hill and Fisher Hill planning, and return to the board with updated funding requests and project timelines.
