Sun Prairie staffer details how a small TID fund and council outreach seeded a multi‑program affordable housing effort

Becky Binns, invited from Sun Prairie, told Middleton’s workforce and housing committee that Sun Prairie’s affordable housing work began in earnest after a 2017 change in mayoral priorities and a comprehensive‑plan update in 2019 that elevated housing goals. "We created the affordable housing fund with about $160,000 to just do a few things, kind of get our feet wet," Binns said.

Binns said the city followed a staged approach: adopt a high‑level affordable housing fund policy, secure a TID/TIF extension to create a predictable multi‑year revenue stream, then return to council later with detailed program funding requests. "Before we fully got to those programs, I wanted to have them at least agree to the different buckets," she said, describing how early council engagement and workshops helped avoid getting bogged down in technical details.

Why it matters: Middleton’s committee sought concrete examples of program design and political strategy from Sun Prairie. Binns emphasized three strategic buckets—supply (zoning, comprehensive plan), stability (supportive services such as tenant navigation), and subsidy (loan and grant programs funded by the affordable housing fund and TIF)—and argued pairing long‑term investments with short‑term crisis supports helps maintain political momentum.

Program specifics Binns described include six high‑level funding buckets: housing support services (tenant resource center, case management, administering a retaliation ordinance), a loan program for owner‑occupied development, a loan program for renter‑occupied development, housing rehab, down‑payment assistance, and housing staff/planning (including part of her salary). She said the owner‑occupied development loan would follow a Madison‑style model with up to $200,000 construction loans that are repaid when the homeowner takes occupancy, while a small down‑payment assistance portion could remain with the homeowner.

Binns said staff capacity drove many administrative choices: some services will be contracted via RFP (case management, rehab program administration), while other loans could be administered in‑house. She also noted priorities for scoring applicants: proposals that secure permanent affordability (for example via community land trusts) will score higher than one‑time affordability arrangements.

On funding, Binns said the initial fund balance came from a TID closure and that ongoing staff and program funding is a mix of the affordable housing fund, TIF revenues and general fund allocations. She highlighted that Sun Prairie’s updated TIF policy places higher priority on affordable projects and recommended codifying expectations about using extensions for affordable housing so council action is required only to opt out.

Community and regional partnerships were central to Binns’s account. She described creating a housing coalition with Sunshine Place, the school district and nonprofits to educate residents, correct misconceptions (for example that rent control is prohibited by state statute), and supply in‑person advocates at council hearings. The Tenant Resource Center is hosted at Sunshine Place under an MOU with Dane County; Binns said she hopes housing case management will be colocated there.

Binns also described outreach to county and Madison staff to check that city programs will "stack" with county and federal funds; she said most programs target households at 80% AMI while rental development proposals would target 50% AMI so they can layer county or federal subsidy.

Committee members pressed on topics including whether a community development authority (CDA) could handle financing or land banking, and Binns cautioned that land banking is expensive and politically difficult; she recommended focusing first on support services and owner‑occupied affordability. She also confirmed practical details such as using deed restrictions/land‑use restrictive agreements to attach affordability requirements to owner‑occupied units.

The session ended with committee members thanking Binns and asking for follow‑up materials; Binns said Sun Prairie plans to bring program funding requests to council in 2026 when TID extension funds will be available.

Sources: Presentation and Q&A with Becky Binns during an informational meeting of the Middleton Workforce & Housing Committee.