Projected Housing Needs

A.  REGIONAL HOUSING NEED

The Regional Housing Need allocated to unincorporated Mono County for the period January 1, 2014 through June 30, 2019 is shown in Table 23. The income groups are defined as follows:

Very Low Income                     =     0-50% of the area's median income (AMI)

Low Income                              =     51-80% of the area's median income

Moderate Income                    =     81-120% of the area's median income

Above Moderate Income       =     Over 120% of the area's median income

The median income for Mono County in 2013 was $79,600 (HCD, 2013 income limits). Income limits are adjusted depending on the number of people in the household.

Source: HCD

The Regional Housing Need allocated to the County by HCD included 11 units for Very Low-Income households. However, Chapter 891, Statutes of 2006, requires the quantification and analysis of existing and projected housing needs for Extremely Low-Income (ELI) households. ELI is a subset of the very low-income group and is defined as 30% and below of the area’s median income. To calculate projected ELI housing needs, the County assumed that 50% of its very low-income regional housing needs are extremely low-income households. As a result, from the very low-income need of 6 allocated by HCD, the County has projected a need of 5 units for extremely low-income households.

Previously, Mono County allocated its overall regional housing needs to communities in the unincorporated area based on the percentage of the population in each community area. Due to concerns in some communities over the arbitrary nature of such an allocation, the County has decided to no longer allocate its regional housing needs to community areas. To address community concerns about the placement of housing for low- and very low-income households in community areas, the County has amended a program in the Housing Element to require the County to utilize a variety of factors, including current and projected population figures, economic conditions, transportation systems, the potential for rehabilitation, and the availability of utilities and infrastructure, when considering the placement of affordable housing throughout the county.

Table 24 shows the number of housing units by income group permitted in the unincorporated portion of Mono County between January 2007 and December 2013, based on actual sales prices, type of construction and size of the units constructed.

Source: Mono County Community Development Department.

Table 25 shows the progress Mono County has made during 2007-2013 in meeting its regional housing need and the number of units still required in each income group to meet its identified regional housing need for the planning period.

Sources: Mono County Community Development Dept, HCD- Regional Housing Need Plan.

B.  QUANTIFIED OBJECTIVES

Table 26 presents Mono County's quantified housing objectives for the planning period. Housing starts have continued to be very slow. During the early 2000s, the county experienced explosive growth in new residential construction, meeting much of the County's identified regional housing need by new construction. Over the past seven years, housing starts have dropped dramatically from a high of nearly 80 units in 2005 to averaging only 13 units per year for the past five years. The County has approved several large subdivisions during the previous period that will fulfill part of the regional needs for moderate to above moderate housing.

The rehabilitation objectives reflect rehabilitation efforts in community areas. The conservation and preservation objectives reflect ongoing conservation efforts such as weatherization programs.

Source: Mono County Community Development Department.