Stimulus bucks on tap for housing
Published 12:00 am Friday, July 3, 2009
About $35 million is available to local governments, the Vicksburg Housing Authority, nonprofits and other eligible businesses and organizations from federal stimulus dollars to purchase foreclosed homes that can be demolished or refurbished.
Beatrice Moore, Vicksburg’s director of housing programs, met with Warren County supervisors Thursday in an impromptu session called by the board in response to a public notice specifying the county’s inclusion. The notice appeared within days of Mayor Paul Winfield’s pitching the plan personally to District 5 Supervisor Richard George, board president, and County Administrator John Smith.
Specifics call for a three-year project of using the money to transfer bank-owned homes to new owners.
“We would have to start spending as fast as we possibly can,” Moore said, adding creating jobs in rehab work is a federal priority.
About $1.93 billion is available to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the program’s second phase, dubbed the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2. Residential homes and vacant properties involved in the plan would be sold, rented or redeveloped. Down payment and closing cost assistance up to $40,000 is available to eligible individuals or families, Moore said.
Participation costs for the county would involve fees totaling 10 percent of the grant award, or $3.5 million, to agencies awarded administrative roles. Moore said recent contacts about the program included Tina Hayward of the Women’s Restoration Shelter and Abraham Green of Habitat for Humanity.
Board Attorney Randy Sherard said the multi-entity arrangement could hinge on finding legal ways to bind the two entities plus the housing authority and other businesses and organizations in an interlocal agreement — which usually involves only public entities for performing a specific public service.
Income limits extend to those making 120 percent of the area median income, making for a wider net of possible first-time homebuyers compared to programs offered currently by the city. Low-income thresholds usually dictate no more than 60 percent of that income. The limit for the NSP2 program would be $43,850 for an individual and $62,650 for a family of four, according to 2009 statistics from HUD.
Local government eligibility for the $35 million was determined by HUD’s “foreclosure score,” a figure based largely on agency estimates on foreclosures and vacancies in a given county’s Census tracts. Moore said a score of 18 was required for program funds and Warren County’s average score was 18.18. Data from HUD updated in May shows HUD estimated 1,032 mortgages have started foreclosure processes or have become seriously delinquent in the past two years. George said it makes sense for the incoming city administration to lead the way on the endeavor because it already funds a housing program entity, but caution was in order.
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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com