City of Middleton

Summary: In 2003 the mayor of the City of Middleton appointed a task force to study the housing needs of the city’s workforce and make recommendations to address those needs. Following release of the task force report, the Partnership signed a consulting contract with the City to implement several of the task force’s proposals.

Staff contact: Kathy Kamp

Wisconsin Partnership's role: Consultant

Status of work: Ongoing

In 2003, one of the first official acts of newly elected Mayor Doug Zwank of the City of Middleton was to create an Affordable Housing Task Force. He wanted to ensure that affordable housing would be available to everyone wishing to live and work in the community. In addition to the mayor and city alders, task force members included a builder, an architect, representatives of nonprofit organizations, a former mayor and long-term city residents.

The task force released its goals and objectives in early 2004 with a prominent focus on housing options for all kinds of community workers. The emphasis was on balanced growth that would include rental and ownership housing for a range of incomes, life situations, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

In November 2004, the Partnership entered into a consulting contract with Middleton to help implement some of the task force recommendations. The scope of services has three components:

• Manage the down payment assistance program to facilitate home ownership by city residents with incomes between 40% and 80% of the county median income.
• Seek, apply for and manage grant funds from government, nonprofit and other sources to implement the city’s down payment assistance program.
• Facilitate partnerships among private, nonprofit and public entities for the production of workforce housing. For example, at the request of the City, the Partnership might assist a for-profit developer in producing and selling affordable homes within a larger development project.