Middleton committee sets timeline to finalize affordable housing plan, prioritizes creating fund and hiring staff

Middleton’s Strategy and Finance Committee on Monday reviewed a draft timeline for an affordable housing plan and identified creating an affordable housing fund and hiring a dedicated staff member as the top priorities for the plan’s first year. Staff said they will merge subcommittee drafts in October and November, bring a joint CDA and workforce housing committee meeting on Dec. 13, and prepare for a January presentation to city council.

Abby, a staff member presenting the timeline, said the committee has completed prior steps — including passing a resolution to extend a tax incremental district (TID), organizing subcommittees and producing a preliminary draft — and proposed internal work between Oct. 15 and Nov. 11 to merge documents and add graphics and definitions. “We passed the resolution extending the TID, we organized the subcommittees, held meetings, did research, writing, and have a preliminary draft,” Abby said during the meeting.

Committee members discussed how to prioritize items once documents are combined. Scott recommended organizing the plan by program types (for example, revolving loan funds for rental and homeownership, supportive services, and grant‑style activities) so the city can phase actions across years and choose annual priorities from a menu of options. Lisa urged that the education piece focus on first‑generation homebuyers and noted some education activities might sit better with the county.

Members agreed that establishing and maintaining an affordable housing fund and hiring staff to manage the program should be immediate priorities. “Create and maintain an affordable housing fund would seem to be job number one, followed closely by hire someone to work on the plan,” a committee member said.

Staff will return a merged draft to the subcommittee in November after a staff work session, and planners said they will prepare high‑level cost estimates for highlighted year‑one activities, including ongoing staff costs. Abby provided a back‑of‑envelope estimate for the total fund in the range of about $10.3 million to $10.7 million, which the committee treated as preliminary.

The committee did not take formal votes during the meeting. Next steps recorded by staff include completing the merge of subcommittee drafts, circulating the merged draft to relevant committees (including sustainability), and scheduling the Dec. 13 joint meeting to finalize a document for council review in January.