Many rural Missouri towns are having a hard time attracting people to live and work there – oftentimes because of a shortage of homes to choose from.
A state House committee could soon vote on a bill that aims to boost the housing market in rural areas. State Rep. Greg Sharpe, R-Ewing, is the bill sponsor.
He said northeast Missouri and Nebraska have grant programs to increase workforce housing in rural communities. According to Sharpe, both programs are working and he wants to make a statewide version.
“It’s been a very big boost to these rural communities and that’s what we’re wanting to replicate in other places,” said Sharpe.
Under his bill, Missouri cities with a population under 50,000 would be eligible for the grants.
“Some people may ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Well, when you get to be an hour from everybody, by everybody, I mean from a Kirksville, from a Hannibal, centers of employment, a lot of places have one employer. So, the risk of building houses, spec houses, or anything like that, the risk is prohibitive.”
Grants would be awarded based upon the unemployment rate, local workforce needs, and homes that can reasonably be occupied within two years.
“Rural Missouri is a unique area,” said Sharpe. “Population has declined substantially and we just have not really kept up with the housing in the rural areas. Where else would you want to raise your kids other than in a rural area where everybody knows everybody?”
State Rep. Louis Riggs, R-Hannibal, said he supports the bill.
“This is really essential for folks in rural areas,” said Riggs. “We have people who will drive 60…70 miles one way for a good job. We just have to have some place to put them. The way we do capital now, we’re not getting a whole lot of love out in the rural areas for affordable anything.”
State Rep. Chris Brown, R-Kansas City, said he is “a firm Yes.”
“I’ve been here six years now, and I’ve seen how this state spends money occasionally. To me, this looks like a good investment,” said Brown. “It’s grant money. It’s perpetual money that’s going to be reinvested. The way I understand it, maybe I don’t totally understand the bill, but the bottom line is that housing is an issue, and housing is an economic multiplier as well.”
Brown calls the proposed program “money well spent.”
“You build a $250,000 house…that helps so many businesses in that area. Maybe it does bring in a young family, a new teacher, or somebody that’s going to live there for the next 20 years,” said Brown.
Sharpe said the goal is not to make money on these homes. Derek Weber of the Northeast Missouri Planning Commission said the homes are sold at cost.
Weber said he is in full support of using local businesses to build these homes.
“Every house that we build in every community, we try to use the local lumber yard, and then we try to use local contractors and subcontractors. In some of our communities, that’s not possible because they don’t have a lumber yard, but we use Missouri family-owned lumber yards for every project we do,” Weber said.
“Sometimes a local lumber yard will charge you a premium because they feel entitled to the project,” Rep. David Casteel, R-High Ridge, pushed back.
“We’re happy to do it,” said Weber. “We’re not just building houses, we’re creating homes and strengthening communities. We’re turning areas of blight and dilapidation into new housing, attracting new residents to the region that would have otherwise located elsewhere. We’re partnering with local building and trades, building homes with students, giving them experience for the workforce.”
He said to date, a $1 million investment from the state has yielded $2.25 million in affordable new homes, with another $1.5 million under construction.
“That $1 million will continue to revolve, creating lasting growth in the NEMO (northeast Missouri) region,” said Weber.
There is opposition to the bill, including Lisa Panett, with a group called Armor Vine.
“This is socialist,” she said. “Under socialism, the state exists to manage the economy. And that’s exactly what you’re attempting to do, manage the economy here. You’re saying there’s a shortage, so therefore we’ll go in as the government, and we’re going to fix it.”
She questions where government would draw the line.
“I mean, if this is what we’re doing, we might as well subsidize coffee houses, H&R blocks that they don’t have in the area,” said Panett.
State Rep. George Hruza, R-St. Louis, questioned what guardrails the bill has in it.
“This is basically a government getting into the business of building houses and then selling them below market, potentially, because you’re selling it at cost. So, I’m just trying to understand to make sure that you don’t have builders who are willing to build houses, but they certainly can’t build houses where you’re building houses because they can’t build it for the price that you can build it. So, I just want to make sure that we don’t crowd out potentially free market builders,” said Hruza.
Weber said the Northeast Missouri Planning Commission is hiring the contractors and subcontractors.
“No contractor within our region through this program is losing any money. Actually, what it’s giving them is guaranteed work. One of our contractors in Schuyler County is now on his 7th or 6th build with us. And he comes to us saying this is one of the best programs that’s helped him be successful and help the people that he employs be successful,” he said.
According to Weber, the commission is building in communities that don’t have a market.
“We are creating a market. And then the contractors and subcontractors, we are paying them at rates they would pay anybody,” he said.
House Bill 1716’s next stop is a Missouri House committee for a second, and largely routine vote.
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