A consortium to pool federal money to assist first-time homebuyers and repair existing housing for low-income wage earners could include Vicksburg and Warren County.

The plan is a reworking of the Home Investments Partnership Program, where localities act as conduits for money awarded to assist qualifying buyers in making down payments for conventional mortgages and, in some cases, building new homes.

Previously, the funds had gone to individual localities, including Vicksburg and Warren County. The last local awards were in 2009.

If Warren County joins others being recruited to join a “Participating Jurisdiction,” funds can continue flowing to protect local interests in such a consortium if the program goes under the federal budget ax, Hinds County Human Capital Development chief Clarence Williams said.

Participation from Hinds, Warren, Madison, Yazoo and Rankin counties would ensure certification by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as a “PJ,” Williams said, joined by Vicksburg Housing and Community Development Director Beatrice Moore.

In the past week, city officials have OK’d the concept of Hinds County being the lead agency in such a consortium. Moore said her department’s eligibility to handle the program depends on the county because the city’s audits for 2008 and 2009 remain incomplete. The pair’s pitch to supervisors ended with the board agreeing to study the issue before spreading an approval on its minutes.

A formula set by HUD determines program eligibility for localities. Families or individuals making up to 80 percent of the county’s $41,750 median income were eligible in the last round of allocations in 2009.