City Council opts to defer decision on employee housing program
Published 8:42 am Friday, March 7, 2025
- Lake Charles City Hall
The Lake Charles City Council has deferred a program that would assist city employees in purchasing a home.
The city announced last month its plans to “piggyback” off of the existing Louisiana Housing Corporation program called Keys for Service. This program was initially formed to provide forgivable down payments and closing cost assistance to the state’s essential workers. The city’s partnership with LHC would open this program to all employees who have worked for the city for one whole year.
If approved by the council, city employees could apply to the program on a first-come, first-serve basis to receive either $10,000 or four percent of the price of the home in assistance, whichever is less. About $100,000 would be allocated to fund the program. The income limit for the program is $125,000.
Councilman Mark Eckard, District G, said he believes in the dream of home ownership and supports the state-run LHC program. However, he expressed his reservations, stating it is not “an appropriate program for the city to undertake.” He pointed out the program could be unfair to employees who already have purchased a home.
“If 10 people get $10,000 and then that 11th person comes along and they’re left out in the cold, I don’t think that’s fair to that 11th person. By the same token, it’s not fair to the city to write a non-limited check for those other people that come along.”
Instead, he suggested that if city employees cannot afford to independently purchase a home, the city should look at adjusting salaries.
“I think we hire people for a job that they do and we pay them a wage that’s commensurate with the job that’s provided, hopefully. … If that wage isn’t enough for that job, then maybe we need to look at the wages,” he said.
Emily McDaniel, director of finance for the city of Lake Charles, said the city was interested in this program to incentivize employees to purchase homes within city limits.
City Attorney David Morgan called it a “pilot program” to determine employee interest.
The council oped to defer the decision until April with a vote of six to one. Councilman John Ieyoub, District D, voted in opposition to the deferral.
