A major topic of debate during the 2006 legislative session that begins Wednesday will be what to do about affordable housing in Hawai'i.

It's a key issue for Anthony Delgiorno, a single parent to a 15-month-old daughter. After a recent separation from his wife, Delgiorno said, he can no longer afford his $1,300-a-month one-bedroom apartment in Moili'ili and has had no luck finding something less expensive.

"I can afford up to $1,000 a month," said Delgiorno, who is a student and works part time at the University of Hawai'i. "Is that so much to ask?"

It's a question many are asking.

In 2004, Gov. Linda Lingle said the state was lacking 30,000 affordable homes, and that 17,000 of those should be rental units. Now lawmakers are eyeing the state's $574 million surplus, and several proposals are being floated to build more homes.

Paul Brewbaker, chief economist at the Bank of Hawai'i, said government and private-sector economists raised a red flag years ago, warning lawmakers that a housing crunch was on the way. But because housing takes years to develop, there is nothing the Legislature can do immediately to ease the problem, he said.

"They can do nothing in the short run," Brewbaker said. "In the long run, they can reduce the restrictions, thereby allowing builders to build more, faster."

In 2005, the median price was $590,000 for single-family homes and $269,000 for condos on O'ahu — gains of 28 percent and 29 percent, respectively, from 2004. The median is a point where half the sales are for more and half for less.

Laura E. Thielen, executive director of the nonprofit Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, said the issue is the lack of housing inventory and that developers are building market value or luxury homes, not affordable housing.

"The way we got here is there are a lot of barriers to actually developing affordable housing," Thielen said. "Developers have not come in to do affordable housing."

Thielen said the state's Rental Housing Trust Fund — which sets aside conveyance tax money from real estate transactions to build rental housing — is the primary source for increasing the inventory of affordable rentals but has not been nearly enough to meet demand.

Jeremy Sirkin and his wife live in a Waikiki studio apartment that costs $1,200 a month. They pay an additional $100 a month for a parking spot and another $100 to have their two chihuahuas live there.

When they moved in, the unit cost $800 a month. More than a year ago, it was sold to investors and the rent went up.

"A lot of people from outside Hawai'i have been buying these buildings and then they jack the rent up so high," Sirkin said. "I work full time for an environmental cleanup company, been with them for 12 years. I make decent money. I just think the prices people are charging is ridiculous."

Sirkin said some landlords are charging so much because they can, and that he would like to see lawmakers set limits on what rents can be charged.

"I think some legislation needs to be put in place to keep these people from gouging you like they are doing now," he said. "I don't understand how younger people can afford to live in these places. Their whole paycheck must be going to rent."

TASK FORCE TO REPORT

The Omnibus Affordable Housing Bill, passed by the Legislature last session, increased the amount of money going into the rental trust fund, and provided $4.3 million for homeless shelters and services, as well as money for repair and renovation of public housing projects.

Lawmakers also formed a Joint Legislative Affordable Housing and Homeless Task Force, which is expected to come out with detailed recommendations tomorrow.

Democrats last week announced plans for bills that would further increase money in the Rental Housing Trust Fund, repair vacant public housing units, increase spending on homeless and transitional housing, and give developers incentives to build affordable housing.

Rep. Scott Nishimoto, D-21st (Kapahulu, Diamond Head), said the trust fund is now being used to build 200 to 300 units a year.

"That is not going to make a dent in the problem," Nishimoto said. "Five thousand units over the next five years — that helps alleviate the problem."

Nishimoto said Democrats also plan to earmark $10 million to fix up the approximately 800 public housing units that are now vacant because they need repairs.

"Families could be into them tomorrow if we made those repairs," he said.

William Starr Moake lives in a public housing complex for elderly people and those with disabilities. He said there are several empty units in his building that need to be repaired.

"I think it's a disgrace that thousands of people are forced to live on the beach, where they get harassed constantly by the police," Moake said. "It's not a crime to be poor and homeless. Apartments in my building are empty for months at a time, while homeless people live on the streets outside."

Moake wants to see the state surplus used for affordable housing rather than any tax breaks, which is one proposal.

"They should allocate a substantial amount of the state surplus to fill vacant public housing, provide temporary shelters for all homeless people and build housing that poor people can actually afford," he said.

HOUSING MONEY RAIDED

Lingle has proposed using $20 million of the state surplus to repair and expand homeless shelters operated by private groups.

Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser, said there are nine separate state funds set up to build affordable housing, but year after year the money has been raided for other needs and homes have not been built.

"Since 1995, slightly over $200 million has been taken out of these funds for uses other than housing," Smith said. "If people ask why we haven't had a lot of affordable housing, that is one of the first places to look. We want to specifically prohibit the transfer of monies out of these funds."

The administration also would like to increase the percentage of tax money going into the Rental Housing Trust Fund and to broaden the definition of what these funds can be used to build.

Affordable homes are generally for people making 80 percent or below of the median income level of $62,000 a year for a family of four, Smith said. Lingle would like those funds available to build homes for people earning up to 140 percent of that amount, about $94,000.

"It sounds like a lot of money for a family of four, but it is really a teacher and a firefighter," Smith said. "They are the ones that have been squeezed out. They are making too much money to be able to qualify for low-income housing, but make too little money to qualify for market housing.

"That is the gap group that she really believes should be addressed."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.