Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone hopes a workforce housing rental initiative will support the city’s “forgotten middle class” — residents who earn too much to qualify for government assistance but struggle to afford market-rate rents.
The proposed initiative was presented to city council on Wednesday. It would require developers who build rental projects with 10 or more units and receive public subsidies, such as grants or tax abatements, to dedicate 10% of their units to workforce housing.
As an alternative, developers could opt out by paying a one-time fee of $10,000 per unit, which would be placed into a housing trust fund managed by the city’s Redevelopment Authority…