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I read a story in the Northwest Herald recently about a plan for “worker housing” in McHenry. The total aid (state, county, local and federal) was about $25 million for 50 units.
Check my math, but I think that works out to $500,000 per unit. According to Zillow, the average house price in McHenry is $289,000. So these subsidized housing units will receive aid equal to roughly 173% of the average price of a HOUSE in McHenry.
Rents vary with income, but a one-bedroom place is listed in the article at $1,200. If you invest $25 million at 5%, you get $1.25 million per year. For 50 units, that works out to about $2,000 per month, which is higher than the average rent in McHenry, meaning they could give 50 families free rent instead of charging them.
Seems to me someone forgot to do a cost/benefit analysis before using the taxpayers’ money for this project.
Steve Willson