Why Should Delaware Care?In his second year in office, Wilmington Mayor John Carney made housing a focus in Delaware’s largest city. But debate with city council over how to spend city dollars exposed a divide over whether Wilmington should prioritize dollars for affordable housing developers or for immediate help to people in need.
After weeks of debate over how Wilmington should spend its money to address affordable housing, the City Council passed a compromise budget that largely preserved Mayor John Carney’s plan to incentivize development over short-term rental assistance.
The budget included an $8.4 million appropriation to subsidize developers who build affordable housing. It also included $2 million to help smaller developers acquire vacant lots in the city, and $1.5 million dedicated for grants to housing nonprofits to provide immediate assistance for renters…