City lawmakers seem poised to vote on a resolution Tuesday night calling on Mayor Steve Noble to drop plans for a city-sponsored housing nonprofit, declaring that no councilmember would serve on the agency’s board or have anything to do with implementation of the plan. Noble’s plan to develop mixed income housing using a city-administered revolving loan fund came under fire from lawmakers who said the proposal circumvented the legislative process and would be ineffective in solving the city’s housing crisis.

“It feels like the city’s position is being taken regardless of what we think about it,” said Alderman Michael Tierney (D-Ward 2) at a March 18 Laws and Rules Committee meeting. “So I feel like it’s our responsibility as the policymakers and financial officers of the city to say we want nothing to do with this.”

Noble’s plan is based on a program successfully implemented in Montgomery County, Maryland to produced mixed-income housing through public-private partnerships between municipal government and developers. The plan calls for a city-sponsored nonprofit to establish a revolving loan fund that could cover up to 25 percent of the costs of a housing development project. In exchange for access to the loan, developers would be bound to set aside 20 percent of all units for people making less than 20 percent of the Area Median Income, which is now approximately $120,000 a year for a family of four in Ulster County. The nonprofit could then negotiate affordability guidelines on another 10 percent of the units intended for tenants making maximum of 80 percent AMI. The remainer of the units would rent for market rates. Backers of the plan claim it would allow the city to create permanent deeply affordable housing without having to use hard-to-get Low Income Tax Credits or other federal resources.

Noble got the process underway in October when he filed incorporation papers for Kingston Forward Inc. Through Office of Housing Initiatives head Bartek Starodaj, Noble pitched the plan to the council starting late last year. But the proposal met with a chilly reception from lawmakers. Councilmembers expressed a number of concerns, including that there is as yet no identified funding stream for the nonprofit and that the city could end up facing financial losses if a development went bust. Lawmakers also complained that the proposal did not do enough to protect tenant rights and that the nonprofit duplicated the function of a number of local housing nonprofits like RUPCO.

“Hopefully it will be successful, hopefully it will be great,” said Ward 6 Alderman Bob Dennison. “There is a huge need for this, but I don’t think the city should be involved.”

The resolution, which will go up for a formal vote at Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, puts the council on-record opposing moving ahead with the proposal absent funding and support from the council. The resolution also asserts that no member of the council will serve on the Kingston Forward Inc. board, while leaving the door open for further discussion on affordable housing solutions.

“The Common Council encourages the mayor to collaborate with the council to explore viable housing solutions that adhere to established financial and legislative protocols, ensuring any initiatives appropriately serve the community's interests and needs.”

Noble did not respond to emails seeking comment on the proposed resolution.