BOZEMAN — Over the past few years, numerous new apartment developments have emerged across Bozeman. But just how affordable are these options, and what does "affordable housing" truly mean in the context of the local community?
One resident, a single mother who wished to remain anonymous, expressed frustration.
"It would be more than half my income to rent there," she said, referring to a new downtown development called Westlake Heights. "How is that affordable housing or low income? How does that help our community at all?"
She shared her experience applying to live at Westlake, initially quoted $1,573 for a two-bedroom, two-bath unit based on her income. "I was willing to pay that to have a better living situation for my daughter and me, but that’s $400 more than I currently pay in low-income housing," she said.
However, her quoted rent later increased to nearly $1,900 per month, a figure she stated was out of reach.
WATCH: Single Mother's Struggle Highlights Bozeman's Affordable Housing Challenges
Deneth Bartolo, a representative from the development company, addressed these concerns.
"We don’t get to pick and choose the numbers. It’s based on the household information after third-party verification," Bartolo explained. He added that discrepancies in initial quotes versus final amounts may arise from differences in disclosure and third-party verification findings.
To further clarify the terms "affordable" and "low-income housing," I spoke with David Fine, the city's housing and urban renewal manager.
"Affordable means that the payment is 30% of your pre-tax income, which varies among individuals," Fine said, noting that genuine affordable housing units are typically tied to the area median income (AMI).
According to the city’s website, the AMI for Bozeman is $109,000, a figure Fine acknowledged is relatively high. He pointed out that over 6,000 households in Bozeman earn at or below 60% of the AMI, which for a family of four equates to around $65,000 annually.
This leads to the role of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects, a federal initiative that provides millions in subsidies to developers to create housing with rents reflective of lower incomes.
However, the mother I spoke to questioned whether these tax credits are being utilized effectively by Westlake.
"My frustration was that they claimed to be a low-income housing property, and they had that on their website," she said.
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