Who Qualifies for Affordable Housing?

AMI

Affordable housing categories are based on the Area Median Income (AMI). Sammamish uses the Seattle Metro Area Median Family Income as its AMI. For 2024, this is $147,400. For comparison, the Sammamish median household income was approximately $239,000 in 2023.

Note that AMI is household, not individual, income. In Sammamish, almost half of households have two incomes. In King County, about 2/3 of households have two incomes.

Affordability Categories

For affordable housing regulations, the highest category is Middle Income, from 80 to 115% of AMI, or $118,000 to $170,000. Sammamish does not appear to have any program in place or under discussion for people in this category.

The Low Income category is from 50 to 80% of AMI, or $74,000 to $118,000. This is the target for the current Sammamish Mandatory Affordable Housing 10% regulation. There is nothing in the proposed code changes that will increase this.

The Very Low Income category is from 30 to 50% of AMI, or $44,000 to $74,000. Sammamish only addresses this category in a somewhat complicated way using bonus units. It is unclear if there will be any changes to increase the housing supply for this category.

The Extremely Low Income category is below $44,000. Households in this category will need a lot more help than just affordable housing. King County thinks that Sammamish should add almost 1500 housing units in this category. This housing is expensive to build and operate. It is unclear where the money will come from.

King County Incomes

Remember that these are individual incomes, while affordable housing categories are based on household income.

$220,000 Senior Software Engineer

$110,000 Registered Nurse

$110,000 Police Officer

$100,000 Entry Software Engineer

$85,000 Electrician

$84,000 Fire Fighter

$78,000 Teacher

$68,000 Grocery Store Worker

$65,000 Sammamish City Council

$60,000 Maximum Social Security benefit

$48,000 Restaurant Worker

$45,000 House Cleaner

$41,000 Retail Sales

$24,000 Average Social Security benefit

Comments

A Former Sammamish Mayor's Thoughts

Read what the former Mayor of Sammamish, Tom Odell, wrote about the changes the current City Council is considering and how far they've come since the early plans in 2007 and 2010. Rolled up Newspaper by 2happy. Do you realize how different the current considerations are from the original concepts? Republished here with permission. Opinion: let the residents vote on doubling the Town Center size By Tom Odell Former Mayor and City Council Member The 2025 Sammamish City Council is considering proposed changes to the Sammamish Town Center project that was originally approved by the 2010 City Council. I doubt if very many people got the notice regarding the changes as there is only a requirement that it be distributed to the affected and immediate “neighborhood”. The current definition of the required notice area is very geographically limited. Others living outside must request to be notified (I did). It is likely that very few Sammamish residents have d...

Town Center Expansion: A Fiscal Sustainability Crisis for Sammamish

The Red Ink Flows... Our beautiful City of Sammamish faces a serious financial challenge affecting every resident: * 2025 Budget Gap: $10,319,000 deficit ($57,287,000 in revenues vs. $67,606,000 in expenses) * 2030 Projected Overspending: $20,747,000 * 2030 Projected Funding Balance Deficit: $24,099,000 This persistent red ink has already led to new taxes for residents: * A 6% utility tax has been implemented. * A potential Metropolitan Park District tax is being considered to fund park expenses. Will Town Center Costs Exceed Revenues? The current Town Center plan (2008 Plan as Amended in 2020) allows for 2,000 housing units. The plan includes some information about the costs City taxpayers will bear: Infrastructure Cost-Sharing With Developers *The Town Center plan states infrastructure will be "funded jointly" between the City, service providers, and private developers, but the exact cost distribution remains unclear: *"Infra...

More cars for faster traffic?

If you commute on the central stretch of 228 th Ave, the city has good news for you. The City Council proposes to increase the number of people in Town Center from the current approximately 600 to more than 8000. The intersection of SE 4 th St and 228 th Ave SE is the meeting point of the two corridors through the Town Center and is within one mile of all these new residents. Most of these new commuters will travel through this intersection. The City states that your average delay at this intersection, even with all of these additional cars, will be 20 seconds. Quite impressive, especially since the average delay in 2024 was 21 seconds.

Search This Blog