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Show Survey shows shortage of affordable housing in P.C. by CHRISTOPHEIt SMART staff writer A recent city government survey of selected Park City businesses indicates 54 percent of the employees em-ployees polled live outside town because they cannot find affordable housing here. The survey, which was conducted in March, states its purpose is "to help the Park City government and businesses understand the present housing situation of people who work in Park City. The results of the study will help Park City develop plans to guide the growth of the town." The raw data gleaned by the survey has not yet been analyzed by Planning Director Bill Ligety and the city's planning staff. The unanalyzed information, however, does show more than half of the 322 Park City employees surveyed live outside city limits. Of those, 48 percent cannot find affordable housing here. About 28 percent of Park City's employees who live elsewhere, do so by choice, according to survey results. A majority of the 323 employees questioned, 59 percent, rent housing while 28 percent own their homes. Another 6 percent have purchased low-income subsidized housing and about 3 percent rent low-income housing. Of the renters in the work force surveyed, 38 percent said they ould not afford a down payment on a house. Another 18 percent of those renters said they cannot afford the monthly payments required of mortgages. According to the survey results, 43 percent of the employees earned less than $12,000 during the past year. About 28 percent earned between $12,000 and $18,000 last year. Only 11.5 percent of the respondents made more than $32,000 last year. , Total annual household incomes are better, the survey reveals. About 36 percent of the questionnaires state household incomes are as much as $20,000 with an average of two employeed adults for each household. house-hold. Almost half of the households were estimated to earn $50,000 annually. Most employees surveyed, 71 percent, were between the ages of 25 and 44 years old. About one-third of those were in the 25-to-29-year-old category, another third were 30 to 34 years old, while the final third ranged in age from 35 to 44 years. The average rent or mortgage payment made by each is $342 a month. The highest payment recorded record-ed by an individual is $2,200 a month. The average cost of utility payments made by each employee is $137 in the winter and $62 in the summer. Slightly more than half of the employees surveyed have been employed in Park City more than two years. One fourth said they have worked here less than one year. About 30 percent of the respondents have held jobs in Park City for more than five years. Of the 322 employees questioned, 93 percent hold full-time jobs and work an average of 44.28 hours each week during the winter season. |