WAILUKU, Maui — Maui County officials say they are making progress in creating affordable housing, but voters are being asked to boost the effort by establishing a fund dedicated to building new projects, fixing up older properties, and helping struggling families buy or rent homes.

A proposed charter amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot would set aside 2 percent of the county's real property tax revenues for an affordable-housing fund to be used "for the provision and expansion of affordable housing and suitable living environments for persons of very low to moderate income." If approved, the funding would be in effect for four fiscal years, from 2008 through 2011.

Thanks to Maui's strong real-estate market, the fund could be substantial. The county expects to collect $194 million in property tax revenue during the current fiscal year, and 2 percent of that is nearly $4 million.

The County Council would establish procedures for the administration and expenditure of revenues in the proposed fund.

No other counties in the state have established an affordable-housing fund tied to property tax revenues, although O'ahu voters are facing a similar question. They will consider a proposed charter amendment asking whether 1 percent of annual property tax revenues should be set aside in special funds for land conservation and affordable housing. The affordable-housing fund would be used to provide and maintain affordable housing for people earning less than half the city's median household income of $71,300 for a family of four.

The Maui housing fund would target a broader segment, from the homeless to those earning up to 140 percent of the county's median income of $65,700, according to Councilman Michael Molina, who introduced the resolution proposing the charter amendment.

During council discussions, some members, administration officials and others expressed concern the charter proposal leaves too many details in doubt, such as what purposes the money could be used for and which income groups should be assisted. There also was opinion that an affordable-housing fund would be better established through an ordinance, which would allow revisions to be made more quickly and easily.

Molina said a charter amendment that creates a fund with a guaranteed revenue source removes politics from the picture.

"The council changes every two years, and if you have a dedicated fund, you know exactly what amount of money is going to be there. Otherwise if you leave (funding decisions) up to nine (council members), it can be tampered with much more," he said.

Maui affordable-housing advocate Tom Blackburn-Rodriguez, who is organizing a campaign to generate public support for the proposed charter amendment, said the County Council has always had the ability to set up an affordable-housing fund through legislation, "but the fact of the matter is that it hasn't happened."

He said it's important for voters to understand that the charter measure is not proposing an increase in property taxes.

"This is not a tax increase. It is a reasoned response to a serious situation in our community, and we'll have a chance to revisit it in four years," Blackburn-Rodriguez said. "Right now no such fund exists, and the problem of the lack of affordable housing has reached such a point that those of us who are advocates for affordable housing believe setting aside 2 percent is a responsible action for the council to deal with."

Mayor Alan Arakawa said he thinks the county can meet Maui's affordable housing demand without the charter amendment. Still, he supports it as long as it is administered with enough flexibility to allow the money to be used for a variety of needs, such as rental apartments, repair and renovations of elderly and low-income housing and homeless centers, and for environmental assessments and other expenses to reduce construction costs and keep projects affordable.

"The devil is in the details," Arakawa said. "If it's only single-family housing, then I would not support it because that's not really where the demand or need is."

The mayor also is concerned about the council's reconsideration of income limits for affordable housing, saying he would not want the new fund used to help those who are making more than 140 percent of the median, or $91,980 for a family of four.

"The council has been all over the place on what is 'affordable.' ... If you get much higher than that, the average taxpayer will have a problem with it," he said.

Studies have identified a need for 2,400 to 2,800 affordable-housing units on Maui, and Arakawa said the county has been working with developers and is expecting 3,400 units by 2008, with thousands more proposed or approved.

The county also recently created a rental assistance fund that distributes money through nonprofit agencies, and a first-time homebuyers fund that provides no-interest loans for down payments and mortgage closing costs. On another front, the council is devising a workforce housing policy that would establish affordable housing requirements for residential and hotel developers.

Blackburn-Rodriguez said many of the projects in various stages of development may never materialize, further justifying the need for the housing fund proposed by the charter amendment.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.