Under the plan presented to commission members, minimum rents would double from $100 to $200 a month as one-year leases run out after Oct. 1, and other tenants would see a 10 percent rent increase, except for elderly or disabled people on fixed incomes, or in hardship cases. Although the minimum rent is normally $100 a month now, several elderly or disabled residents pay as little as $29 a month, commissioners were told in a fact sheet.
Maximum incomes for new low-income renters coming to live at Hilltop would range from $17,241 for one person to $32,512 for a family of eight.
New low-income residents would pay higher rates, from $256 a month for a one-bedroom apartment to $337 for a four-bedroom townhouse. As units turn over, half would be rented to a new category of moderate-income residents who would pay from $718 to $1,051 a month. Any resident whose income increases more than 140 percent of the income limits for moderate-income households would be forced to move after one year. Maximum income for new residents in moderate units would range from $34,482 to $65,023.
Carbo offered to phase in the minimum rent increase in $50-a-month increments over one year to satisfy commissioners' hesitation.
"You have adult children sitting at home that aren't working," added Sam Tucker, the county's housing voucher program administrator.
But commission vice chairman William A. Ross Jr. said he was troubled by the fear that the increases might displace truly poor people who have no place to go in high-rent Howard County.
"I'm concerned about these people at the real bottom of the scale. I'd like to know if people can stand that kind of impact," he said, talking about the doubling of the minimum rent. He pushed for a meeting with residents and individual assistance for families to help them adjust.
No residents attended the public commission meeting.
Hilltop resident William Colbert, 47, a deli counter worker at a nearby supermarket, was also a Hilltop resident as a child, he said Wednesday, and has had a one-bedroom apartment there for the past eight years. His sister also lives in the complex, he said, adding that a 10 percent rent increase would hurt.
"I can't afford it now," he said about his $800 monthly rent. "The high cost of living ... everything goes up, but your income doesn't go up."
At the meeting, Commissioner Patrick J. Clancy also voted against the new plan, saying "we haven't thought about it enough. I just don't feel comfortable."
