Item:
Title
Approval of Interlocal Agreement to Transfer Non-Profit Housing Repair Funds to the City of Durham for Joint City-County Home Repair Programs
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: January 11, 2021
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The Board is requested to review the proposed interlocal and ask any questions they wish prior to the agreement coming back on January 11th for approval.
The County staff, in coordination with County Commissioners, agreed in the fall of 2020 to focus the County's non-profit funding for the latter half of FY20-21 and all of FY21-22 on four areas. One of those areas was the arena of housing security. County staff consulted internally and also with key affordable housing staff in the City's Department of Community Development. Staff discovered that the City was about to release an RFP seeking non-profit assistance with both minor and substantial repair programs. Given that the County does not have significant subject matter expertise in the affordable housing (or home repair) area, the possibility of partnering with the City on County-wide repair programs was attractive. This is doubly true since robust home repair programs help reduce gentrification by making it possible for many more, lower- and fixed-income homeowners to age safely and affordably in place.
The City agreed to this approach in principle and the County Commissioners were briefed on this approach in early October. The approach has been incorporated into the draft interlocal agreement in front of Commissioners today. The interlocal would transfer one quarter ($264,000) to the City over the next 18 months to supplement the City funding and accumulated HOME Consortium funding that had already been lined up to fund these programs. The interlocal, if approved, would make both City and County residents eligible for the programs. In general, disabled or elderly (over 65) homeowners with household incomes under 50% of the area median income (AMI) are eligib...
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