Louisville Metro Council President Jim King says it isn’t practical to raise taxes for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, despite Mayor Greg Fischer’s suggestion.
The council set up the trust fund to give grants and loans for affordable housing activities, such as new construction, home rehabilitation, payment assistance and emergency repair. But the fund has struggled to find an adequate revenue stream since it was first formed in 2008.
After months of saying that residents had no appetite for higher taxes, Fischer told The Courier-Journal his administration supports a one percent increase of the insurance premium tax to pay for the trust fund if council members agreed.
But King says raising taxes of any kind would be a burdensome to residents and small businesses in a tough economy.
"I would have to say that I didn’t expect (Fischer's) comment because I wasn’t aware he was interested in adding anything to that tax. But I don’t think that the council as a whole is in a position to support that right now," he says.
