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As the words "12 ayes, three nos, the measure passes" echoed through the Milwaukee Common Council's chambers, a smattering of applause broke out and the two-year fight to publicly fund affordable city housing came to an end.

The council voted Tuesday morning to pass a $2.5 million housing trust fund, which will pay for housing developments in low-income areas.

Two years ago, a coalition of 130 social justice and community development organizations – headed by the Interfaith Conference – and several Marquette University students joined forces to establish such a fund.

The loose coalition came to be known as the Housing Trust Fund Campaign; the group, advocating for affordable housing funding, formed outreach programs, encouraged citizen lobbying, dropped leaflets and met with officials.

"Marquette students have a history with us," said Lucia Murtaugh, a member of the Interfaith Conference. "They've been involved since the beginning."

The Common Council passed a resolution one year ago to establish a task force to find money and lay out the operation of a potential housing trust fund.

The Interfaith Conference formed a 12-person team and presented its ideas to the city's aldermen in September. Aldermen Michael Murphy of the 10th District and Michael D'Amato of the Third District agreed to sponsor the plan when it went before the council.

"It's important for each of us to look at the city as a whole," D'Amato said. "We should work on problems across the board, not just those in our own districts."

Marquette students began a grassroots advocacy campaign, encouraging support for a housing fund.

"Marquette students were critical in the 11th hour," said Heather Dummer Combs, the Interfaith Conference's housing campaign director.

On Oct. 28, students posted fliers in the neighborhoods of city officials, asking their constituents and neighbors to lobby for a fund.

"It will revitalize housing," said Brendan Sullivan, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. "And building new houses will create jobs."

The fund will be used to build affordable housing and repair homes owned by low-income families. According to Murtaugh, 350 cities around the country have housing trust funds. Murphy put the number higher, at 425.

Students papered the stairs inside City Hall on Thursday with fliers proclaiming the benefits of an affordable housing fund.

"Supporting the Housing Trust Fund Will Mean Stronger Neighborhoods," one flier read.

By the following day the fliers had disappeared, but the students had made their statement. The council voted Friday to allot money to a housing fund that was still a potential, something that did not exist but for which support was swelling.

On Monday, the day before the Common Council's final vote, students set up a call-in to the mayor's office asking him to support a fund – if the fund passed the council.

"Part of social justice is a little rabble-rousing," said Beth Andreasen, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Before the Common Council meeting Tuesday morning, Murphy predicted the three aldermen who would vote against the fund to its supporters gathered in the viewing area of the council chambers.

"I don't think they will have enough votes to kill it," he said.

As minutes ticked by, aldermen bickered about what city-earned money should contribute to the fund. Second District Ald. Joe Davis wanted Potawatomi Bingo Casino revenue removed from the funding plan.

"That would gut the housing trust fund," Murphy said. "I would not put my name on it."

Alderman Bob Bauman of the Fourth District, which includes Marquette, was careful to not tag the fund as a true trust fund.

"It's really a development fund," Bauman said. "This housing isn't generating revenue. We'll have to seek other revenue year after year."

The Common Council will fund affordable housing from a variety of sources, including the casino, property taxes, the city budget and tax incremental financing. TIF is a system where revenue produced by a project pays off the money borrowed to initially fund the project.

According to Dummer Combs, it is now critical for the housing trust fund task force to ensure that the first year's money goes to development programs.

"We have to be able to hold up examples and say 'See? Look what good has been done,'" she said.

Joe Boesen of the Tribune staff contributed to this report.

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