Bridging the Gap: A New Blueprint for Funding Affordable Housing in Montana

Housing costs affect nearly every part of life in Gallatin County. With median rent at $2,195 per month and the median home price at $789,000, many local workers and families are struggling to find a home they can afford.

One reason affordable housing is so difficult to build is the capital gap, or the difference between what a home costs to create and what the people it is intended for can afford to pay. Closing that gap requires additional investment, such as public funding, donated land, or low-interest financing.

A new Regional Housing Coalition report, Bridging the Gap: A Guide to Funding Affordable Housing in Montana, explores how communities could generate more of that investment.

On July 15, nine state legislators and legislative candidates joined more than two dozen RHC members in Big Sky to learn about the report and discuss what its findings could mean for Gallatin County.

The gathering was not intended to promote any one policy. It was an opportunity to build a shared understanding of the options and create space for an informed conversation about what could work in Montana.

State Sen. Chris Pope, D-33, reflected on the importance of approaching housing beyond party lines:

“I would encourage everyone to leave their politics at the door. This particular issue is not a political issue. This is a human rights issue. This is a community issue. We all have friends and neighbors and sons and daughters that this applies to.”
- State Sen. Chris Pope, D-33

Exploring the options

Gallatin County communities are already using tools such as land contributions, federal funding, development incentives, and low-interest loans to help make affordable housing projects possible. Those efforts matter, but the report finds that they are not yet large or consistent enough to meet the level of need.

Bridging the Gap examines several additional options, including:

  • A local housing levy or bond

  • Voluntary fees collected by participating businesses

  • A local option sales tax

  • A portion of lodging tax revenue

  • A share of Montana’s rental car or marijuana tax revenue

Some of these tools could be pursued locally, while others would require changes to state law. Each comes with different opportunities, limitations, and questions for communities to consider.

The report does not present any one funding source as the answer. Instead, it looks at how several tools could work together to close capital gaps and help more housing projects move from planning to construction.

“Housing challenges don’t stop at city lines. It is part of our culture as Montanans to show up and take care of our neighbors. Without a regional approach, communities get left behind, and that regional approach is exactly what the RHC has made possible.”
- Brian Guyer, RHC member and Community Housing Manager for the City of Bozeman

Read the full report at onevalley.org/bridging-the-gap.

RHCAnna Burkholder