| Background: I used to say Teton County was turning into a mill town. I was referring to policies that enabled “successful” business owners like Joe Rice to pay their staff a pittance, then we taxpayers became responsible for housing his “low-income” employees. And I know we were all thinking that we shouldn’t feel guilty that Joe doesn’t pay some of his employees a living wage, right? I mean, it’s not like we were enablers. These policies were forced on us by the Teton County Housing Authority. And anyway, They can probably get free food from the Rec Center refrigerator or the Jackson Hole Cupboard. I bet they have some cute furniture at the ReStore. Cheap clothes at the Browser. There are TONS of free services all over the place in Teton County, right? Sounds great, until you realize…. These people have no chance of upward mobilty. Their plight is un-American, similar to serfs in the Middle Ages. Well, now I have stumbled on something possibly worse than all of that.Tomorrow, the Teton County Housing Authority will offer their recommendations to the Town Council regarding a few of their current housing policies.After reviewing their agenda materials, the one thing that seems clear is this: we’ve got to get MORE people qualified for tax-payer funded housing so everybody can either keep complaining, or cashing in! “Affordable housing” is no longer just for the lowly serfs and servants! Trust fund kids, high-income earners, Maui condo owners, nearly EVERYONE can figure out a way to qualify!And no longer are the requirements black and white! The REAL power comes from having SUBJECTIVE criteria to QUALIFY!Summary points: You don’t need to lie or put anything in your Momma’s name anymore! That’s because a tenant can have nearly $500,000 in assets to qualify for taxpayer-funded housing in Teton County! Are you selling everything to move to Teton County to be a ski bum?! Great news! “One-time” non-recurring income DOES NOT COUNT towards your income! For example, if you sell your house in California for $300,000 and go on unemployment, you still qualify to live in “low-income” housing in Teton County! (this is a REAL example, by the way!) The dire “police officer housing” bait and switch is the last item addressed in this email. |
| The Teton County Housing Authority MUST lower the threshold for subsidized housing because: The more people we pay to house = more money for the developers and consultants!Let’s go through some real examples ahead of the meeting!One of the 10 questions for tomorrow’s presentation is: Should the current asset limit calculation method be changed? |
| This handout reads: In 2024, after removing asset limits for Affordable Rental units, the Town Council and Board of County Commissioners reinstated asset limits after several households with substantial assets qualified for Affordable Rental units and benefited from below-market rents despite having significant financial recources  HUD rules allow a tenant to have $105,000 in assets to qualify for housing.However, the TCHA’s rules allow a tenant to have nearly $500,000 in assets TO QUALIFY FOR TAXPAYER FUNDED HOUSING! (this $500,000 does NOT count IRAs, retirement funds, pensions, etc) We also learn from the handouts that: Prior to 2024, residents with “significant assets” APPLIED FOR and RECEIVED below-market rent! It’s like they never saw it coming! I wonder if these same scammers are still getting cheap rent today!  It seems the Teton County Housing Authority wants people to qualify for taxpayer-funded housing, EVEN WHEN they earn big salaries and have nearly half a million in assets!Now on to the next question that will be addressed tomorrow:Should the Housing Department continue using both historical and estimated current-year income to determine household income during annual recertifications?*****PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE WORD “ESTIMATED“! From the TCHA handout:One-time payments, such as isolated bonuses, retirement distributions, or other non-recurring income, are not included when determining annual household income.I want you to really think about this one. Let’s say someone sells their condo in St John for $400,000 (or keeps it, they qualify either way), and they decide to move to Jackson Hole to be a kayaker. If their actual paycheck is low, or even is they ESTIMATE that their paycheck will be low, they qualify for taxpayer-funded housing. In other words, this means that you and I have to help pay for the place they live here in Teton County, because: THAT SALE DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS THEIR INCOME. And if they have past, PROVEN income, but they ESTIMATE that it will be different moving forward, they simply sign an affidavit and they still qualify for us to pay for their housing! Is this who you want to help? You know what, that is not a fair question from me. The real questions is: ARE YOU READY TO PAY FOR HOUSING FOR NEARLY EVERYONE WHO DECIDES TO MOVE TO TETON COUNTY? BECAUSE THAT IS EITHER WHERE WE ARE, OR WHERE WE WILL SHORTLY BE.  Bait & SwitchPresently, we are hearing about the police officers who now need housing. Well, why didn’t we build them housing instead of the Flat Creek Apartments? That was built on 10% of the remaining Teton County Fairgrounds for $24 million dollars! We IMPORTED people from other states to live at the FCA! It took more than 6 months to find enought tenants to fill the building! Tyler Davis, who is Joe Rice’s son-in-law, was paid 33% of a $1 million development fee to “develop” the building. Joe Rice currently has serfs from three businesses living there.YET NO ONE THOUGHT TO BUILD HOUSING FOR POLICE OFFICERS UNTIL NOW?Come on, Teton County! NONE OF THIS IS ADDING UP! This is not about helping the poor! LET’S START HOLDING THESE ELECTED OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE!Send me your thoughts! Email Rebecca |
