Many people that work in Loudoun County want to live in Loudoun County, but can't afford to do so.
In April, the Washington Area Housing Partnership, a public-private affordable housing coalition, gave a presentation on housing trends and affordable housing solutions, to the Loudoun Housing Advisory Board and local residents.
Washington Area Housing Partnership chair Barbara Favola led the presentation on the metropolitan area.
"It’s a great place to live and work," Favola said. "Unfortunately, it is unaffordable for most people to live here."
The 2006 Metropolitan Regional Information Systems reported an average Loudoun County home costs $546,857. The median sales price of a Loudoun home is $485,000. Households earning less than $129,000 are unable to afford the median sales priced home. Only 20 percent of its households earn more than $124,000.
"The escalating housing costs in the metropolitan region make recruiting new teachers, police officers and firefighters difficult," Favola said.
Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kraig Troxell said many of the county's deputies live outside of Loudoun County.
"A lot of our deputies have moved to western Loudoun, West Virginia and Maryland," Troxell said. "We even have a deputy living in Pennsylvania."
The starting salary for a deputy is $37,660 and the mid-range salary is $46,626.
When Troxell took an unofficial survey two summers ago, he said approximately 48 percent of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office's deputies lived outside of the county.
"A lot of our deputies have moved outside of the county since then," he said.
Some Loudoun County Public School teachers are in the same boat.
The school's spokesperson Wayde Byard reported the starting teacher's salary this year was $40,986. The average salary was $53,096.
AT THE MEETING, Favola discussed recent market trends and its affect on the community.
"There’s a disparity between income and home prices. This, along with traffic, is starting to drive people away," Favola said. "It is becoming more and more difficult to employ here, especially mid-level management."
Between 2005 and 2010, the Washington, D.C., region will grow by 470,000 people and 180,000 households, Favola said. In an effort to build strong, healthy communities, Favola encouraged county Supervisors to plan for the future.
"These neighborhoods have to be family friendly, multicultural, have soccer fields," she said.
To alleviate the affordable housing problem, Fairfax County has instilled the "One Penny for Housing Flexibility Fund." Instead of lowering the tax rate by one penny, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved last April the appropriation of one penny of the real estate tax rate to go toward affordable housing in fiscal year 2006.
Loudoun County Supervisor Stephen Snow (R-Dulles) said the penny program would never pass here.
"This county would never allow a penny to go toward affordable housing. That's a tax rate thing," Snow said. "We just killed the schools."
Instead, Snow would like to see Loudoun County work with neighboring counties like Fairfax to fix the problem.
"Unless we all house our workers, we're gonna loose them. And I mean all of us," he said.
THE METROPOLITAN-Washington Area is a victim of its own success, Favola said. "We all have to accept the fact that our region is going to continue to grow."
The Washington Area Housing Partnership provided the advisory board with a tool kit for affordable housing development, such as workforce housing. The tool kit encourages local governments to team up with nonprofit organizations and developers to build affordable housing for county employees.
Favola said workforce housing attracts new residents that provide everyday services to the community and creates options for residents to live near their place of work, reducing traffic congestion. She also encouraged mixed-use buildings to provide affordable housing.
Snow was leery of Favola's plan for Loudoun County.
"We don't want tall buildings in Loudoun County and we don't want transit development" he said. "We don't have the road structure for it."