Dunn County Housing Needs Assessment: shortage is a problem at all levels
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Although some Dunn County businesses may want to expand, if they do, where are the extra people going to live that they would need to hire?
What about the people who grew up in Dunn County, moved away but now want to move back, but they cannot because there are no houses available? After all, with so many jobs that are remote, and as long as they have good Internet access, people can live where they want to and still do the work for which they were hired.
And then consider the people who are retired and ready to downsize to a smaller house or a duplex or a twin home or an apartment. If they had somewhere they could downsize to, then wouldn’t that make housing available for new people moving to Dunn County?
These are all situations that exist in Dunn County right now, said Susan Badtke of the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission at the the Dunn County Board’s July 26 meeting.
Badtke, who worked on the Dunn County Housing Needs Assessment, presented the results of the study to the Dunn County Board.
The study was funded by a grant available through the federal government that was administered by the state of Wisconsin.
The 171 page study is available on Dunn County’s website.
Dunn County is not the only place with a housing shortage. The shortage is statewide and nationwide, Badtke said.
The focus must be on providing housing for everyone, from single parents, to students, to people in the workforce and retirees, from the lowest incomes to the highest incomes, she said.
The study is based on statistics, interviews with lenders, contractors, developers and others, as well as information gathered from several housing forums.
One college professor who was relocating to UW-Stout had difficulty finding a house. Although the professor preferred to live near campus, the only housing available was on the north side of Menomonie, Badtke said.
Some people said they have children who want to move back here, but there is no housing available that they can afford, she said.
Someone who lives outside of Boyceville would like to retire, sell the house and move into Boyceville, except there is no housing available in Boyceville, Badtke said.
There are all kinds of different needs and different situations, from young people to the workforce to senior citizens, she said.
Supply vs. demand
The supply of new housing has not kept up with the demand. The number of vacancies available for sale or rent is very low, and net new construction in 2022 was low, Badtke said
According to the Wisconsin Homebuilders Association, single family housing starts in Dunn County from 2000 to 2009 were between 1,800 and 2,000, but from 2009 to 2919, there were 509 housing starts, she said.
New home growth has been slow since the Great Recession, and residential construction has never rebounded, Badtke said.
According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the state must double housing inventory to meet the demand statewide, she said.
In 2040, Dunn County, based on population projections and household size, will need 2,400 to 2,600 housing units — and the question is, “How to get there?” Badtke said.
With an unbalanced housing market, when the supply is low and the demand is high, that means increased prices, which makes it a challenge to buy or to rent, she said.
Price range
A recent search of Zillow revealed that were 52 results, ranging from a two-bedroom house for sale in Downing for $135,000 to a house over $1 million outside of a Menomonie, Badtke said.
Of those houses, 13 were under $250,000, 13 were between $250,000 and $350,000, and 27 houses were over $350,000, she said.
An entry level teacher or police officer would be struggling to buy a house, Badtke said.
Aging Baby Boomers want to downsize, but there is nowhere for them to go, and there is a large population of millennials who cannot afford to buy a house, she said.
A recent search of rentals on Zillow turned up 38 rental units in Dunn County. The lowest rent was $565 per month for a one bedroom, one bathroom in Ridgeland. Of those 38, 18 were less than a $1,000 per month, and the others were over $1,000 per month, Badtke said.
The developer of duplexes currently being built in Colfax has told the Colfax Village Board the rent would be $1,500 per month per unit.
For someone making an income of $50,000 per year who has no dependents, monthly rent of $1,500 would amount to about 50 percent of that person’s take-home pay.
78 percent increase
In 2022, the top 10 occupations in Dunn County had a median income of $50,000 per year or less, Badtke said, noting that median is not average, but rather, half are above and half are below.
The housing costs are outpacing household income, she said.
The median gross rent increased 78 percent from 2000 to 2020, but the income of renters increased by 48 percent, Badtke said
Median housing prices have increased 105 percent between 2010 and 2020, but the income of people wanting to buy a house increased by 26 percent, she said.
Incomes are just not keeping up with housing costs, Badtke said.
So?
Why should the Dunn County Board care about housing availability and the cost of housing? Badtke asked.
Affordability and availability are important to economic development. Housing must be part of Dunn County’s economic strategy to attract new businesses and keep existing businesses, she said, adding that businesses need workers, and workers need a place to live.
An article by the National Association of Counties (NACO) states that rising housing costs, insufficient housing availability and stagnant or slow growth in wages has led to a situation where teachers, police officers, nurses, retail and restaurant workers and entry-level workers either have a long commute, or they have to double up or triple up in the housing that is available, Badtke said.
When the workforce cannot find affordable housing, the entire community suffers. Housing is critical to sustaining the local economy, she said.
Rental units must be added at all price points. Additional housing is needed from starter homes to larger homes, and additional units are necessary for senior citizens to “age in place,” Badtke said.
Dunn County should have an action plan to create a housing-friendly environment in Dunn County, she said.
What solutions?
Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie, said he was frustrated with the report because it did not give concrete examples of actions to take.
What is Dunn County supposed to do? Reduce property taxes? Change zoning to allow denser housing? Change what’s allowed for septic and well systems? Should Dunn County go to Bremer Bank and tell the bank that it has to reduce the interest rate by 5 percent? Should taxpayer money be used to pay the interest rates so people can afford to buy a house? Bjork asked.
Everybody knows there is a problem, but what to do to correct the problem, he said.
The purpose of the housing study was identify needs to allow Dunn County to craft the tools — “that’s our job,” said Kelly McCullough, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Dunn County Board.
“Going forward, we will figure it out,” he said.
The county will have a housing task force. Maybe Bjork would want to be involved? McCullough said.
Bjork replied that he did not care how people got their housing.
“They should have to work for it like I did,” he said.
Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax, asked if there could be more helpful ways the state could use Tax Increment Finance Districts to encourage housing development.
The TIF districts can finance sewer and water, he said.
In a TIF district, property taxes on new development in the district, instead of being paid to the taxing authority (municipality, county, school district and technical college district) are paid into a special fund that the municipality can use to help the district develop, such as building roads and installing sewer and water. At the end of the life of the TIF district, either 20 or 26 years, the money remaining is paid out to the taxing authorities. During the life of the TIF district, the taxing authorities still receive property taxes on the base value in the TIF district.
TIF districts are a good municipal tool, and currently housing can be part of a mixed TIF district with industrial and commercial, Badtke said.
Municipalities can extend the TIF district for a year for affordable housing, she said.
There also has been some talk at the state level about creating workforce TIF districts, Badtke said.
Homeless housing
Dunn County requires housing across the income spectrum, so would Dunn County be expected to pay for housing for the homeless? asked Patrick Breslin, county board supervisor from Boyceville.
It is better if the community has a range of housing, Badtke said.
Homeless housing is a need, but what the county funds is a Dunn County Board decision, she said.
Hours and hours were put into working on the study to give data to help the Dunn County Board make hard decisions, said Michael Rogers, county board supervisor from Menomonie.
It’s not only housing for the homeless, it’s housing for executives, for 3M employees and for people working minimum wage jobs, he said.
All of us will have opinions on how to make more opportunities. Badtke’s work was not to give answers but to give the county tools, Rogers said.
Michael Kneer, county board supervisor from Menomonie, noted that Menomonie and Boyceville took part in the study, but what about other villages in Dunn County?
The study looked at Dunn County as a whole and included all the municipalities. Boyceville and Menomonie wanted a “deeper dive” that was specific to their communities, Badtke said.
Starter homes
Andrew Hagen, county board supervisor from Menomonie, said he is an elder millennial who works a factory job and lives in a two-income household.
The housing study confirms what Hagen has been experiencing over the past five or six years.
“I do not see myself buying a house,” he said.
Hagen asked about the cost of starter housing and whether inflation in construction prices would affect the cost of the houses.
Similar houses with similar floor plans are assessed similarly, said Randy Prochnow, county board supervisor from Menomonie.
A house that is a year newer would be worth more, he said, noting that he has seen similar houses sell for $80,000 or $90,000 more for the house newer by a year.
The study was done so Dunn County can thrive and more people can live here, which will help Dunn County raise revenue to provide the services that people need, said John Calabrese, county board supervisor from Menomonie.
There is not a dearth of hard work. Over the past 20 or 30 years, productivity has increased exponentially, but the wages have stayed stagnant, he said.
“While my friend Larry Bjork could afford a house, it’s not the same these days. The study was done so we can find a solution,” Calabrese said.
Tim Lienau, county board supervisor from Menomonie, asked if there were programs to help the elderly with housing.
Community Development Block Grant money is available, and while income is one of the qualifying factors, senior citizens on fixed incomes would likely be eligible, Badtke said.
The regional program is administered by the Chippewa County Housing Authority, she said.
What’s next?
Dunn County’s job is to provide the leadership to solve the problems, said Kristin Korpela, county manager.
The only time Dunn County has been involved with money for homelessness was CDBG money that was COVID money passed through to Stepping Stones and WestCAP, she said.
The only external organizations Dunn County funds are the West Central Regional Planning Commission, which is required by state law, the Dunn County Housing Authority, which receives matching funds from the federal and state government, the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation and libraries in the county, Korpela said.
Dunn County could start to address the housing issue by providing education to people on becoming first-time home buyers, she said.
Another priority would be to take a look at zoning and planning to see if there are areas where Dunn County could make it easier to build housing, Korpela said.
Why are people building in New Richmond and Altoona? she asked.
Initially Korpela had included Elk Mound in her question about why people are building in certain places but not others but then backtracked, noting that Elk Mound is actually in Dunn County.
The Settlers Ridge development in Elk Mound is currently under construction and is expected to triple the population of the village when it is finished. Because of the anticipated increase in property and population, the Elk Mound Village Board currently is trying to figure out how to pay for improvements to the water system so there is adequate water pressure for the population and for fire-fighting capabilities.
The Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee has appointed a housing work group to figure out where to start, Korpela said.
Dunn County can provide leadership and does not have to provide direct funding, she said, adding that government can provide a forum for people to craft solutions.
The housing work group was scheduled for the first meeting on August 1.
The work group includes Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the PR&D committee; Diane Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Dunn County Health and Human Services Board; Bob Cook, chair of the Town of Red Cedar; Steve Jahn of Momentum West; Eric Atkinson, Menomonie city administrator; Anne Wodarczyk, Dunn County zoning administrator; Korpela; and Rob MacDougall.
Anyone else who would like to help provide leadership to make change is welcome to attend the housing work group meetings, Korpela said.
