107 YEARS
Teton Valley News - June 30, 2016 - Page A1
Rockets Red Glare The valley's Fourth of July schedule B1
step on through An interview with band Screen Door Porch A3
How time flies Celebrate our weather blogger's anniversary A19
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Local kids bring home glory
Teton Valley Housing
for national junior high rodeo Scott Stuntz TVN Staff
It’s no surprise that valley kids are good at rodeo, but you’d be forgiven for not realizing just how good. Cooper Cooke was crowned as the top allaround cowboy at the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Lebanon, Tennessee last Saturday. Rodeo continued on A16
TVN Photo/Jackson Adams
Fox Creek Apartment complex in Driggs. Fox Creek contains some subsidized units – and a waiting list.
Making sense of ‘affordable’ translates to 25 percent,'” said Ed Gramlich, a spokesperson for the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “In public housing it If a person has the income to buy something, became known as the Brooke Rule, named after like a car, a bicycle, a house, or the monthly rent Senator Edward Brooke, a Republican from of an apartment, then they can afford it. Massachusetts, who established 25 percent of Right? actual income as the maximum Not necessarily, at least when rent.” it comes to the rent. In 1981, Gramlich said the It turns out 30 percent is Reagan-era Congress raised the the ideal percentage of one’s There are cap to 30 percent of one’s income. income that should be spent on To this day, if someone is federally backed housing. According to the federal spending more than 30 percent of government, when costs rise calculations to their income on housing, they can above that percentage, they are no be considered ‘cost burdened.’ In longer deemed ‘affordable.’ determine what turn, their housing is no longer Of course, people can considered ‘affordable.’ is affordable and freely choose to spend a higher To try and create an percentage of their income what isn’t. affordability standard, the federal on housing if they want. The government uses calculations _________________ issue comes when housing isn’t that are based on a number of available for people that would Jason Boal, factors, including an area’s median prefer to live in accommodations Victor City Planner income—meaning what amount that only cost them 30 percent of of money households make in an their income. area such that half make more and In some communities with half make less. high property values, like Teton In Teton County, Idaho, the County, this really is an issue. It Area Median Income, AMI, for is also where affordable housing 2016 is $64,000. programs enter into the picture. From this number, HUD determines who can “Really when we are talking about affordable qualify for certain types of assistance, depending housing, we are talking about the (Department on how their income relates to the AMI. of Housing and Urban Development) HUD “There’s a long list of program types,” said and the standard that’s set,” said Victor City Boal. “From down payment assistance, to Planner Jason Boal. “There are federally backed subsidizing.” calculations to determine what is affordable and Some examples of these federal programs what isn’t.” already exist in the valley. Those calculations have a long history. Teton View Village, for example, provides “In the 1920s the real estate industry had a subsidized housing. rule of thumb for financing a home, 'a week’s wages a month for a month’s rent, which Housing costs continued on A16
Jackson Adams TVN Staff
TVN Photo/Courtesy of Dale Burr
Teepees like this one depicted by local artist Dale Burr, are scheduled to appear in September for the Mountain Man Rendezvous.
Victor Rendezvous may be a thing of the past Scott Stuntz TVN Staff
An event that for the past three years has honored the valley’s past will itself be history, at least for now. After not gaining the popularity that organizers hoped, the Victor City Council voted to put the Teton Valley Mountain Rendezvous on hold, for now. “I have mixed emotions because it hasn’t taken off like we hoped it would,” said Victor City Treasurer Craig Sherman. The event was launched in 2013 and visitors from both inside and outside of the valley have been treated to the rich cultural experience of seeing and talking to mountain men. Rendezvous continued on A16
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