Truth in Quotes: Can our teachers afford to live in our towns?

Regularly, at Patch, we'll investigate a quote from a town official or elected representative that just doesn't sit right. We'll research, look into it, find the truth in the quote, and bring you the information. This is our first Truth in Quote effort – feel free to tell us what you think of this feature and suggest your own quote for us to research.

At Tuesday night's San Anselmo Town Council meeting, a woman spoke about her belief that people who work in San Anselmo can't afford to live in San Anselmo.

Her example of this was teachers at our schools, who – she said – don't make enough to live in town. A number of council members agreed that affordable housing was needed (which it is!). They returned again and again to the example of our teachers being unable to afford housing where they teach. There was even the suggestion that personal friends and families, who work as teachers, can't afford to live in San Anselmo or Fairfax.

My mother is an English teacher, as is my sister. My dad works on the computer systems for a school district. Certainly, they could all make more money in a different field, but none of them are exactly struggling to make ends meet.

This made me wonder about the assumption our teachers can barely afford housing. This isn't to say that teachers are being paid enough nor is it to judge their worth, but let's simply look at the question:

Can our teachers afford to live in our towns?

According to the California Department of Education, here are the amounts teachers in our district were paid in the 2008-09 school year:

The Ross Valley School District [Brookside, Manor, Wade Thomas, White Hill]

Lowest: $46,559

Average: $61,939

Highest: $80,955

Tamalpais Union District [Drake High School]

Lowest: $51,525

Average: $85,402

Highest: $98,306

According to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, "affordable housing" means a household spends just 30 percent of its income on housing. Although the majority of households actually spend closer to 50 percent of their income on housing, 30 percent is considered affordable.

This is how much 30 percent of our teachers' income is, broken down by month – or how much teachers have to spend on housing per month:

The Ross Valley School District [Brookside, Manor, Wade Thomas, White Hill]

Lowest: $1,164

Average: $1,548

Highest: $2,024

Tamalpais Union District [Drake High School]

Lowest: $1,288

Average: $2,135

Highest: $2,458

Can teachers afford to rent or buy on these salaries?

A search of Craigslist for apartments less than $1,164/month (the lowest amount our teachers can afford to spend on housing) in San Anselmo and Fairfax yields nine one-bedroom apartments, five studios and two two-bedrooms advertised in the last week.

Certainly, some of those are not particularly nice and some of them are. You can see pictures at right of what was available.

A search of Craigslist for apartments less than $2,456/month (the highest amount one of our teachers can afford to spend on housing) in San Anselmo and Fairfax yields a much, much larger number. Some of them even seem nice. Pictures are at right.

OK, so certainly a single teacher working in our district could find somewhere to rent in our towns, without even discussing the possibility of roommates or shared rent.

But, could they buy?

A 30-year fixed rate loan, with a 20 percent down payment is the most standard loan, with an interest rate that today was at 4.51 percent. Let's use this loan and rate to figure out what our teachers can afford.

A $240,000 house would require a $192,000 loan and a $1,252 monthly payment (including property tax). That is just barely affordable for our lowest paid teachers, but there are virtually no houses for $240,000 in either San Anselmo or Fairfax.

A $470,000 house would require a $376,000 loan and a $2,453 monthly payment (including property tax). This is just barely affordable for our highest paid teachers, but that fails to address the question of where a $94,000 down payment would come from.

It is good to know, however, that there are 12 houses and condos listed for less than $470,000 in San Anselmo and Fairfax. Two of those, though, are in states of extreme disrepair and three are under foreclosure.

In conclusion, our teachers can certainly afford to live in town. They may even be able to buy a house in town, but they might want to find another teacher roommate before they do so.