County Manager proposing bond to fund affordable housing

Jay Hamilton's County Board Message, July 18, 2026, Arlington County Board Meeting, open session period

Watch Jay's remarks to the County Board

Good morning Arlington County Board Members. I'm Jay Hamilton with Neighbors for Neighborhoods.

We support real efforts to make housing affordable for Arlington's low- and moderate-income families. The County's own 2025 Housing Needs Analysis tells us where the need is greatest: rental housing for our very lowest-income residents, those earning 30% or less of the area median income. Last year, Arlington was short more than 8,000 of those units.

That shortage has real consequences. Families are stretching their budgets to cover rent, and cutting back on food, health care, and other basics to do it. The County Manager recently reported that 16,000 households earning 60% of area median income or less are cost-burdened — paying more than 30% of their income on rent. More than 11,000 of them are paying over half their income just on rent. (So a single person earning up to about $69,780, or a family of four earning up to about $99,660, would fall at or below 60% AMI.)

Zoning changes don't help these families. What helps is more funding for affordable rental housing — which is why Neighbors for Neighborhoods supports the County Manager's proposal to study using bond funds to expand Arlington's investment in affordable housing.

This isn't a new idea. Fairfax County has used tax-exempt bonds to fund affordable housing since the 1970s. Richmond does the same. And Charlottesville dedicates 24% of its capital budget to affordable housing.

As the Manager's proposal suggests, this study should also look at whether Arlington's current tool — the Affordable Housing Investment Fund — is still the right mechanism going forward.

We know bond funding means additional revenue, possibly a 1 to 2 cent tax rate increase. We'd ask that the study also look at budget savings that could offset that increase, and examine whether other capital projects could be deferred or scaled back to make room within the County's debt limits.

I've heard many of you talk about Arlington's "housing crisis." But the 2026 Arlington Profile actually shows we have more housing units than households — and that's projected to continue. The real crisis is for our poorest neighbors, those at 30% of area median income or below. That's exactly who the Manager's proposal is designed to help.

As I've said before, the EHO ordinance does nothing for low- or moderate-income residents — only high earners can afford those units. Let's focus on the housing need that's actually most urgent. The Manager's proposed study is a real step toward solving it.