County Commissioner Renee Flowers speaks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Bayou Court Apartments in South St. Petersburg, one of 18 projects to receive Penny IV Pinellas affordable housing funding. The county is evaluating $37 million in requests with just $2.9 million remaining in program coffers. Photo by Mark Parker.
Pinellas County is closing its landmark affordable housing fund after dedicating over $90 million to 18 income-restricted, multi-family developments over the past eight years.
The money stems from the 1-cent Penny IV Pinellas sales tax, approved by 83% of voters in November 2017. County officials initially expected the 10-year housing program to net $99.8 million.
However, the expected accumulation is now $94.1 million after Florida eliminated state and local sales taxes on commercial rents last year. Bruce Bussey, the county’s community development manager, told commissioners on Tuesday that Pinellas has approximately $2.9 million remaining, and “quite a few more applications in the pipeline significantly exceed that amount.”
“The people who have applied – there’s not going to be funds for them anyway,” said County Administrator Barry Burton. “Unless [some of] those projects don’t go forward.”
Bussey recommended closing the program to new applications immediately. Commissioners agreed to extend the portal until Friday, despite little hope that any last-minute requests would receive critical county funding.
Pinellas is already evaluating eight additional funding requests totaling $37 million, with just $2.9 million remaining in program coffers. “That’s going to be the challenge,” Burton said.
Bussey said the county would not disregard existing applications, as federal funding remains available. However, that money has “a lot of different restrictions.”
County guidelines state that Penny IV Funds can strengthen the local economy by providing affordable housing for residents who meet income requirements. The program is open to developments with, but does not support, mixed uses or market-rate units.
The county typically uses the funding to acquire land, which ensures affordability. Proposed projects often receive the commission’s approval amid the protracted attainable housing crisis.
Pinellas cannot restart the program until and unless voters approve an extension in November 2028. The county and its 24 municipalities, which receive a percentage of the funding, would begin receiving additional funding in 2029.
After the meeting, Commissioner Renee Flowers celebrated the program’s success. She said the county “has kept its promise” to voters by dedicating 4% of Penny IV Funds, which also support capital projects, to affordable housing developments.
“That’s great news.” Flowers told Power Broker Magazine. “However, due to the rising costs of land and supplies, projects were funded at a greater level in order to make the project viable.”
Flowers also noted that federal, state, and private equity funding remains available to help subsidize income-restricted units. “It is my hope that the commission will join me in allocating an even greater percentage to affordable housing projects – we certainly could use it.”
Bussey said developers leveraged Penny IV Funds to secure $862 million from other sources. The 18 projects funded through the program total $953.3 million.
The $91.2 million already committed will help create 2,227 affordable units. Four funded projects have been completed, eight are under construction, and six will soon break ground.
While the per-unit cost has significantly increased – the price tag for each apartment in a project approved on Thursday is $441, 470 – the average county subsidy is approximately $41,000. Bussey said those homes will remain affordable “for the next 30 to 100 years.”
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