Overall, says Shultz, "The problem is less of a rent problem and more of an income problem for people at lower income levels who want to live in New York City."
To shore up the increasingly precarious position of the near-poor, the CSS report says intervention is needed on the demand side immediately. To this end, the report considers a variety of measures, from Section 8 vouchers to several different forms of tax credit.
While Section 8 drastically improves tenants’ rent burdens and per capita residual income, and current proposals call for an increase of 100,000 "incremental" vouchers, the report notes that there are already 100,000 people waiting for Section 8 vouchers in New York alone. Other relief will be needed.
One policy option mentioned is a modification of the New York State Real Property Tax Credit—the "circuit breaker"—first adopted in the 1970s to deliver a tax credit to those whose low incomes meant they faced property taxes beyond their means. While across the country similar provisions dole out about $3 billion each year, in 2005 New York distributed only $30 million, or 1 percent, of the total benefits across the 18 states. The state’s relative stinginess is in large part a result of the fact that the amount tripping the circuit breaker has never been updated; most of New York state's poor tenants are ineligible for the circuit breaker as their rent is too high.
As the report points out, many New York City homeowners already enjoy some property tax relief, in the annual rebate checks the city has issued since 2004 (at a total cost of $250 million per year). Last year Council Speaker Christine Quinn proposed a renter’s tax credit, but Mayor Bloomberg declined to offer his support and the measure went down to defeat in Albany. Similarly, a housing supplement to the Earned Income Tax Credit would probably deliver the most relief of any of these proposals, but will require significant action from Congress.
Victor Bach observes that during “the first rent strikes in New York City in 1904 on the Lower East Side… the tenants were railing about rent burdens of 35 or 40 percent of income. The rent burdens for poor households now are close to about 62 percent on the average.” Although tenants and affordable housing advocates aren't exactly silent about their displeasure in this era, Bach remarks, “It’s just surprising that the level of protest isn’t even stronger.”
