‘Competitive’ housing grants explained to county residents|[3/28/06]
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 28, 2006
About 15 residents gathered Monday at a hearing that could lead to Warren County’s first participation in a program to help people buy homes.
The program is part of the Home Investment Partnership Program, or HOME program, and is administered by the Mississippi Development Authority. It is not related to proposals for new residential areas being floated as part of a hurricane relief package.
Olie Elfer of Jimmy G. Gouras Urban Planning, the firm assisting the county’s application, noted the program’s benefits to those wanting a house, but noted that approval is not automatic.
“These are very competitive grants the county is applying for,” Elfer said.
The program assists home buyers through a deferred loan of $22,300, which would be forgiven over a 10-year period at a rate of 1/10 per year. The funds are available to those whose total gross family income is 80 percent or below the median household income for a particular area.
According to new estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Warren County is $34,495. To clarify the percentage to residents in attendance, the percentage figure was calculated at $27,596.
Any applicant must also complete eight hours of home ownership education classes to receive the assistance and make regular mortgage payments.
Residents were briefed on the specifics and posed a few questions, mostly dealing with how the location of the housing will be determined.
“Independent Realtors will work with you,” Elfer said, adding that the program is designed for both existing homes and the chance of constructing new ones.
In addition to the income limits and buyer-education classes, supervisors emphasized consultation with lenders that will analyze the prospective buyer’s credit and finances.
“You need to establish a relationship with the lender to get those things straight,” District 1 Supervisor David McDonald said.
Housing units for which the grant funds would pay for down payment assistance must meet city codes for zoning if within city limits and federal housing quality standards and the Southern Standard Building Code.
The hearing took place in accordance with the rules of the program, a system of points that go toward the overall likelihood of the county being approved for it. The county can receive a grant between $100,000 and $250,000 if approved. In all, the state has allocated more than $3.2 million for the Homebuyer Assistance category of the Home Investment Partnership Program.
As for the other steps the county would have to take in applying, an administrator, housing inspector and attorney would need to be hired. As no zoning exists in the county as does in the city for residences, the board took a first step in that process when it authorized advertisement for the three positions at its regular meeting March 20.
As the governing authority of the program, if approved, supervisors will be able to take any portions of the $22,300 if the resident decides to sell the home before the 10 years is up and use it toward another applicant, Elfer said, also indicating that such conditions depend on rules yet to be set forth.
The county’s deadline for submitting the application to MDA is April 7, with the deadline for receiving written comments from the public a week from today. Interested residents can forward those to the Chancery Clerk’s office.
The process of taking applications from residents seeking to participate in the program will be set in motion after the application’s approval, with a second public hearing to be held at an undetermined date soon thereafter, Elfer said.
The separate federal “GO Zone” legislation was approved by Congress in December and has resulted in a trio of proposals by developers for new housing areas in Warren County. The legislation provides tax incentives for developers to build or rebuild from Hurricane Katrina that swept Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in August 2005. Warren County is one of 47 eligible counties in Mississippi, and supervisors have voted to opt in for eligibility.