JOPLIN, Mo. — Affordable housing, funded by state tax credits and designed to replace homes lost in the May 22 tornado, would be reduced significantly if the Missouri Housing Development Commission does not waive new prevailing-wage requirements on the projects, local lawmakers said Monday.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and local lawmakers said a mandate that prevailing-wage rates be paid on the projects would reduce building by about one-third. During an announcement at the Joplin Senior Center, Kinder said he and the local lawmakers want the requirement waived for projects proposed in the Joplin area, and they want developers to be given extra time to revise and resubmit their project proposals.

The lieutenant governor, who is a member of the housing commission, said he will offer motions to make those changes at the panel’s Dec. 16 meeting. Citing Gov. Jay Nixon’s pledge to stand with Joplin in its recovery, Kinder said he will ask for Nixon’s support.

Kinder said prevailing-wage standards were added last year under State Treasurer Clint Zweifel, who was chairman of the commission. Then, wage rates were raised dramatically in recent action by the federal Department of Labor.

Kinder, a Republican, is expected to announce later this month whether he will challenge Nixon, a Democrat, in the race for governor next year. Zweifel also is a Democrat.

Nixon’s office on Monday said there would be no comment on Kinder’s announcement, and calls to a spokesman for Zweifel’s office were not returned.

Representatives of building trade unions said Kinder’s proposal to disregard the federal prevailing wage increase ultimately could backfire, The Associated Press reported.

“The higher wage rates attracts a more qualified candidate, and those people can produce more per man-hour than what the workers in non-prevailing wage states can produce,” said Dave Wilson, a spokesman for the Carpenters District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity.

Kinder said concerns about the prevailing wage were raised by state Rep. Charlie Davis, R-Webb City. Davis and state Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, said Monday that the requirement should be suspended for Joplin projects.

“This will affect the quantity and quality of housing for Joplin,” White said. “I don’t want developers to have to build apartments when they planned to do single-family homes that create neighborhoods.

“And I don’t want them to cut back on elements that would make the houses last over the long term and be energy efficient.”

State Rep. Bill Lant, R-Joplin, said more than 4,000 units of housing need to be replaced in Joplin. “If that number is cut by one-third, that’s a lot of people who won’t get housing,” he said.

State Reps. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, Bill Reiboldt, R-Neosho, and Barney Fisher, R-Richards, also were at the announcement. Kinder said a letter from the lawmakers to the housing commission will be signed by state Sen. Ron Richard, R-Joplin.

Without the new prevailing-wage requirements, “a lot more could be accomplished for Joplin,” said Flanigan.

Joplin Mayor Mike Woolston also was on hand for the announcement. City Manager Mark Rohr recently told state and federal officials that the prevailing-wage increase could use up a sizable amount of money being made available by the tax credits for construction of new homes.

Nixon in July announced an initiative called Jumpstart Joplin that set aside $122 million of the state’s tax credits for Joplin tornado recovery. The housing commission at its December meeting will decide which projects get the tax credits.

The panel also will hold an additional public hearing — set for Nov. 28 at Joplin City Hall — on housing projects proposed to receive the credits. Residents had expressed concerns about a lack of information being made public before a Nov. 9 public hearing on the projects and the location of building sites for what is being characterized as “low-income and affordable housing.”

Steve Smith, president of Joplin Construction Design & Management, said his company had put together a proposal based on the earlier prevailing-wage rates. He said the federal increase would have an impact on elements the company planned to include in its project to make houses energy efficient and tornado resistant.

Citing the recent increase in prevailing-wage rates, the housing commission has extended its application deadline for funding for multifamily projects to give developers time to adjust their applications, according to an announcement on the commission’s website.

Wage hike

A Sept. 30 revision of the federal wage rules significantly increased workers’ wages. For example, the federal prevailing wage for a carpenter in the Joplin area rose from $7.98 an hour to $21.47 an hour, plus $12.65 in fringe benefits.