Baltimore's Stalled Inclusionary Housing Bill To Be Revived, Council Member Says

Baltimore's inclusionary housing law expired more than a year ago, and efforts to replace the policy have failed to move forward for months. But Council Member Odette Ramos now says she plans to submit final versions of the bills in the coming weeks. 

"We've had so many meetings to negotiate this bill with the administration, the developers, the advocates, the council president's office and my office, and we’ve reached an impasse. So I'm not doing that anymore," Ramos told Bisnow in an interview Friday. "I'm making the decision [to submit the bills] and then getting the votes."

The council member said she would file wholly amended versions of her legislation with City Council President Nick Mosby's office and clear the way for the council to eventually approve or reject the long-awaited inclusionary housing bill and the tax credit legislation.

"We're still working through a few things on the tax credit, and I expect to have two fully amended bills next week to present to the council president," Ramos said Friday.

On Tuesday, Ramos provided an update to Bisnow, saying she is waiting on the final bill to be drafted and to make some final tweaks, and she will likely file it after this week. 

Ramos said significant points of contention involve Mayor Brandon Scott's administration seeking to limit the area where inclusionary housing requirements apply, restricting tax credit availability to certain parts of the city and capping the dollars available for tax credits. Scott previously said he supports the aims of the inclusionary housing bill but insisted it required more work.  

Ramos said developers want to change the bill to allow them to meet inclusionary housing requirements for building units considered affordable for residents making 80% of the area median income. As the bill is currently written, only units with affordable rents for tenants earning 60% of AMI would qualify as inclusionary housing units.

"There are two reasons [for the opposition]: One is money. … More buildings will take advantage of the credit, costing the city more money," Ramos said. "Two, there's a fear mandating inclusionary requirements, even with a tax credit, outside of the core areas would stymie development. I'm telling you, that is a crock of whatever it is." 

Baltimore's initial inclusionary housing bill, which went into effect in 2007 and sunset on June 30, 2022, drew criticism from various stakeholders who called it too weak.

Critics argued the bill provided too many loopholes to be effective. Provisions allowing developers to obtain compliance waivers if the city couldn't afford to reimburse for the cost of including affordable units made the bill toothless, detractors argued.  

The 2007 ordinance only resulted in the development of 34 inclusionary housing units, according to an Enterprise Foundation report released in November. 

"The 2007 Ordinance did not meet its objectives for two primary reasons," the Enterprise Foundation report said. "1. The financial burden of generating new affordable housing units was placed on the city. 2. There was a lack of alignment between the 2007 Ordinance and market dynamics."

Ramos, first elected in 2020, introduced her inclusionary housing bill in February 2022, months before Baltimore's previous inclusionary housing law expired. 

In April of this year, Ramos also submitted legislation creating a tax credit to make building inclusionary units more palatable to developers. The Enterprise Foundation's report recommended the creation of the tax credit. 

Ramos said she isn't thrilled about creating another developer tax incentive despite sponsoring the tax credit legislation. 

"So, we introduced a tax credit, but I'm very uncomfortable giving more subsidies when we shouldn't have to," Ramos said. 

However, developers insist subsidies like tax credits are needed to make an inclusionary housing law effective. 

Workshop Development founding principal Doug Schmidt, who essentially represented the Baltimore Development Workgroup in negotiations with Ramos over the bill, is among the developers who insist inclusionary housing policies require city subsidies to work. 

During a recent zoning hearing before the Baltimore City Council, Schmidt said inclusionary housing policies require subsidies from cities, the Baltimore Brew reported. 

“It’s well known and accepted that projects cannot afford inclusionary units without additional support from the city," Schmidt said, according to the publication. 

Even with compromises, affordable housing advocates ranging from the NAACP to the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership have called Ramos' bill an improvement over the city's previous inclusionary housing law. The most significant difference is Ramos' bill closes loopholes that allowed developers to avoid building affordable units or make payment in lieu of compliance, advocates say. 

“It is important to provide more affordable housing options for our families and include us in these new developments,” Monica Braxton, a member of BRHP's Client Advisory Board, said in a release. “We are the heartbeat of this city and providing more options that can give our children a safe place to grow and thrive will only benefit this city for generations to come.”  

Despite the bill representing an upgrade over its predecessor, Ramos said that passing the more robust bill isn’t assured, even with 10 of 15 council members signed on as either sponsors or co-sponsors. 

"As much as I tried to get a consensus and agreement on everything, it's likely not going to be that way," Ramos said.

UPDATE, JULY 25, 3:50 P.M. ET: This story has been updated to reflect that Ramos said she expects the bills to be filed after this week.