Housing Affordability and Community Services Committee 

 

Councilmembers Carolyn Moulton, Christine Cleland-McGrath, Ryan Walters 

 

The HACS Committee is a City Council committee, first created in 2016, that works on ways to make housing more affordable, identifying gaps in community services, and how to make recommendations on budget and Community Development Block Grant allocations for social services.

  1. Stephanie Snyder

    Program Coordinator

Meetings 

The Housing Affordability and Community Services Committee will meet weekly on Wednesday's at 9:00 am unless other noticed.  

The Committee's Work 

  • The HACS Committee developed an affordable housing strategic plan in 2017. 
     

  • In 2020, the City Council tasked the HACS committee with analyzing unmet needs in Anacortes, resulting in a presentation to City Council in January 2022 (Video | PowerPoint). HACS is continuing to work on these issues. 
     

  • HACS recently proposed a letter to Skagit County asking for their engagement with the cities and broader county community on housing and services in lieu of pursuing Fully Contained Communities.
     

  • HACS is currently engaged in the City's effort to develop a Housing Action Plan [link to new HAP webpage].  

 

What is "affordable housing"? 

 National definitions base "affordability" on income, so the monthly cost of "affordable housing" is not a single number. Generally, we target lower-income housing to be affordable by people making 80% of the average income in the area (the "Mean Family Income" or MFI).