Community Asset Inventory: A Guide to Local Housing Resources

The cities of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater, Thurston County, Washington State, and the United States as a whole have struggled to address the housing crisis and connected rent burden crisis. Attempts to address the housing crisis have consisted of statewide property tax exemption efforts for multifamily housing developments and additional extensions of tax exemptions for multifamily housing developments that include an amount of affordable housing, local rezoning efforts to promote the “missing middle” housing supply of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and townhomes, local allowances of Accessory Dwelling Units on single family housing properties within municipalities, and an increase in housing support services and transitional housing for unhoused populations.

Our local communities have responded to the housing crisis and policy proposals that impact their ongoing ability to stay in their community, including the development of grassroots organizations and nonprofits hopeful to advance and support further affordable housing development in their city. In recent years, cities such as Seattle have begun the process of developing social housing: publicly owned housing available to households making up to 130% of the Area Median Income (AMI) with rents limited to 30% of household income. Nationally, more communities are becoming aware of the potential benefits of social housing for their community in combating the affordable housing crisis. This community asset inventory serves as a resource to describe our current housing landscape and assist local community organizations in advancing policies to combat the housing crisis such as social housing. This resource serves as a starting point for future work and publications about the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, and Thurston County more broadly, housing environment. If you have interest in being involved in future community asset inventorying of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater’s housing assets, email OLTHousingHub@gmail.com. If you have interest in keeping up to date with future publications relating to this work, sign up here.

Understanding Community Assets

This community asset inventory is based on an Asset-Based Community Development methodology. Its purpose is to identify assets currently existing within our community that may be used, capitalized upon, and further developed to address our community’s needs. This community asset inventory specifically focuses on assets relating to affordable housing development in Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater. Asset categories analyzed for this community asset inventory include financial assets, infrastructure assets, natural assets, and political assets. Asset categories remaining for future analysis include cultural assets, social assets, and human assets. Future work pertaining to this community asset inventory includes community surveying, organizational interviews, and presentation of the original findings for community feedback and direction of future work.

Data sources for this community asset inventory consisted of the Thurston Regional Planning Council’s Housing Needs Assessment, the cities of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater publications and policies, Thurston County geodata and maps, the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office’s Public Lands Inventory, US Census data (primarily the OnTheMap resource), and American Community Survey data.

Purpose and Research Questions

This community asset inventory serves as a resource and reference for community members and organizations to analyze the current housing landscape of our tri-city area, identifying what assets currently exist in our communities to serve as a starting point for future community development in these areas. Questions to be addressed in this community asset inventory are:

• What affordable housing asset resources currently exist in our community?

• How do our current assets line up or differ from our area’s projected growth and housing needs in the future?

Asset Framework and Categories

Categorizing assets is an important part of a community asset inventory and its usefulness to the community it serves. The asset categories analyzed for this community asset inventory include financial assets, infrastructure assets, natural assets, and political assets. Financial assets consist of grants, loans, and other public programs available for the development or maintenance of affordable housing in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater tri-city area. Infrastructure assets consist primarily of public transportation options and also include other public works available to the community that assist in housing livability and affordability. Natural assets include our public parks, waterways, and green spaces that make our communities and housing developments livable and sustainable. Political assets consist of policies supported by municipalities and the county that contribute to the advancement of current affordable housing and potential future social housing development.

Community Asset Inventory – Financial Assets

Several state programs exist to support the development and maintenance of affordable housing in Washington. The Washington State Housing Finance Commission provides tax exemptions, bonds, loans and grants via federal and state funding sources, such as the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and the Washington State Housing Trust Fund. Through the Housing Authority of Thurston County, low-income residents have access to housing vouchers such as the Housing Choice voucher (formerly known as Section 8), Veterans Administration Supportive Housing (VASH) voucher, Non Elderly Disabled (NED) voucher, Emergency Housing Voucher, and Mainstream voucher. Below is a detailed list of grants, bonds, loans, tax credits and vouchers available in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater municipal areas.

Financial Assets Table

Asset Name	Funding Source	Funding Type	Eligible Uses	Eligibility Requirements	More Information
Multi-Family Tax Exemption	State authorized, city and county implemented.	Tax Exemption	Construction of new multifamily housing in Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater.	8-year tax exemption: no requirement of affordable housing. 12-year tax exemption: requires 20% of units developed to be affordable housing. City of Olympia also offers a 20-year tax exemption for nonprofit owned homeownership units selling a minimum of 25% of units to households making up to 80% of the area median income.
Low Income Housing Tax Credit	Federal program, allocated to state and local agencies	Tax credit	Acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of rental housing targeted to lower-income households as defined by HUD.	Three separate eligibility requirements based on amount of residents at certain income levels below Area Median Income (AMI)
Thurston County Homeless Prevention Rent Assistance (HPRA) Program	County program, implemented by nonprofits	Rent assistance	Specific HPRAs for youth, adults without children, families with children, domestic violence survivors, and the Latino/x and Hispanic community	Varies depending on HPRA.
Thurston County Home Fund	County sales & use tax	Affordable housing fund	Construction or acquirement of new multifamily housing, single-family housing, and homeownership housing; Constructing and/or acquiring behavioral health related facilities, or acquiring land for these purposes; Funding the operations and maintenance costs of new units of affordable housing and facilities where housing-related programs are provided, or newly constructed evaluation and treatment centers; and Operation, delivery, or evaluation of behavioral health treatment programs and services or housing-related services.	The housing and facilities supported with Home Funds may only be provided to property development supporting those whose income is at or below 60% of Area Median Income
City of Olympia Home Fund	City sales & use tax	Affordable housing fund	Construction or acquirement of new multifamily housing, single-family housing, and homeownership housing; Constructing and/or acquiring behavioral health related facilities, or acquiring land for these purposes; Funding the operations and maintenance costs of new units of affordable housing and facilities where housing-related programs are provided, or newly constructed evaluation and treatment centers; and Operation, delivery, or evaluation of behavioral health treatment programs and services or housing-related services.	The housing and facilities supported with Home Funds may only be provided to property development supporting those whose income is at or below 60% of Area Median Income
City of Olympia Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)	Federal grant provided to city	Flexible economic development grant	Housing rehabilitation, energy efficiency improvement, economic development activities, public facilities improvements, public services, land acquisition and more.	Funds are made available annually around March by the City of Olympia through a Request for Proposals process.
City of Olympia Permit and Review Fee Exemption Grant Program	City of Olympia	Affordable housing grant	Permit and Review fee exemption program for affordable housing developers.	The project must be operated as permanently affordable housing for a minimum of 25 years. All residential units must be rented to households whose income does not exceed 80% of area median income by household size.
City of Lacey Human Services Grant Program	City of Lacey	Social services grant focusing on housing, security, and survival needs.	Expanding and Upgrading Affordable Housing Programs, Emergency Rental Assistance, Housing Education, Creating and Maintaining Supportive Housing Services, Access to Food, Water, Shelter, Sleep, Clothing, Job training and placement, mental and physical health care, drug and alcohol recovery services, support in times of personal or family crisis, and transportation.	Funds are made available annually by the City of Lacey through a Request for Proposals process.
Thurston County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program	Federal grant provided to county	Flexible economic development grant	Varied uses.	Must benefit low- and moderate-income persons, must prevent or eliminate slums or blight, or must address an existing and urgent community development need that poses a serious and immediate threat to health or welfare of the community.
Housing Authority of Thurston County Housing Choice Voucher Program	HUD sponsored program	Housing vouchers	Low-income housing.	Must earn 50% or less than the Area Median Income.

Community Asset Inventory – Infrastructure Assets

Infrastructure assets for affordable housing consist of the nonprofit affordable housing programs in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater municipal areas, housing made available through the Housing Authority of Thurston County, and the infrastructure present that make affordable housing projects possible and successful such as access to transit services and library access. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater benefits from a free transit system via Intercity Transit, allowing access to the county’s bus system free of charge for all residents.

Infrastructure Assets Table

Asset Name	Publicly available	Cost	Eligible Uses	More Information
City of Olympia Parks and Trails	Yes, from dawn to dusk	None	Varied
City of Olympia Community Gardens	Yes, from dawn to dusk	Annual fee	Vegetable and ornamental gardening
City of Olympia Park Shelters	Yes, from dawn to dusk. Reservations may be made for April 1 - Oct 31.	Yes, dependent on time of year, length of reservation, and which park shelter.	Social gatherings and events
Intercity Transit	Yes	Free	Transportation, commuting.
City of Lacey Parks	Yes	None	Varied
City of Lacey Trails	Yes	None	Recreation, transportation.
City of Lacey Athletic Fields	Yes	None for drop-ins, reservation costs.	Outdoor activities, sports, and pick-up games. Available for organizations with reservation costs.
City of Tumwater Parks and Trails	Yes	None	Varied
Thurston County Bike Map	Yes	None	Recreation, transportation.

Community Asset Inventory – Natural Assets

The natural assets of the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater area are paramount, our area's natural beauty spans from the Puget Sound, through our waterways and green spaces. These areas are a collective good for all of us, and access to these assets are necessary for the wellbeing of all, including low-income tenants. These are assets to be preserved and supported, as well as considered in future affordable and social housing projects in regard to community access and livability of housing projects.

The natural assets of our communities relating to parks and trails are identified in the above infrastructure assets. Further natural assets are recorded by state government departments such as the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office's Public Lands Inventory.

Community Asset Inventory – Political Assets

The political assets of affordable housing in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater area consist of the policies, plans and projections of the municipal governments and county government. The Thurston Regional Planning Council publishes a Housing Needs Assessment for the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater area, data related to future population projections, and employment distribution and projections for the area.

Political Assets Table

Asset Name	Policy Type	Policy Target	Published Date	More Information
City of Olympia One Community Plan	Planning Document	Homelessness response and long-term prevention strategy	June 2020
City of Olympia Housing Action Plan	Planning Document	Housing supply, housing cost, housing accessibility.	June 2021
Thurston County Consolidated Plan	Planning and Strategic Document, Federal funding submission	Needs assessment, strategic plan, action plan. Submitted to HUD for further funding.	July 2023
City of Olympia Future Land Use	Planning Document	Future Land Use	April 2025
City of Lacey Housing Action Plan	Planning Document	Housing supply, housing cost, housing accessibility.	April 2021
City of Tumwater Housing Action Plan	Planning Document	Housing supply, housing cost, housing accessibility.	September 2021
Thurston Regional Planning Council Housing Needs Assessment	Needs Assessment	Populations estimate and forecast, housing supply, housing needs, housing gap analysis.	January 2021

Conclusion

The housing landscapes of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater continue to evolve. Our cities, county, and community recognize the growing need for more affordable housing development to meet our current and future housing supply projections. The available assets show a level of coordination among our three cities, though not all cities create parallel documents related to strategic planning, forecasting, or future land use. These assets offer a starting point for organizations and individuals interested in advancing social housing proposals to combat rent burden and establish a supply of permanently affordable, high-quality housing.

This community asset inventory is the first step in developing a framework for understanding the housing landscape of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater. Next, we must flesh out the remaining asset categories of cultural assets, social assets, and human assets to understand the full range of actors involved in local housing affordability. Then this information must be shared widely and built upon with new policy proposals and analysis. Documents such as the Housing Action Plans produced by each city and the Housing Needs Assessment produced by the Thurston Regional Planning Council will require updates in the future, and the project of OLT Housing Hub may prove useful to community organizations and public bodies in advancing the housing affordability conversation into new modes of needed policy such as the establishment of a Social Housing Development Authority.