Citizen Input on 5-Year Community Development Plan

The City receives federal funding from HUD for community development and affordable housing through the CDBG and HOME programs. HUD requires the City to prepare a Consolidated Plan every five years to guide the expenditure of those funds. We have put together a draft of the plan for 2010-2015, and welcome any citizen comments on the plan. (Full version and summary version.) If you’d like to voice your opinion to City Council, they will hold a public hearing on the Consolidated Plan on Monday, May 10.

Very brief points from the Plan:

• The assessment of housing and homeless needs highlights the need for affordable housing, particularly for extremely low and low-income households (i.e. a family of 4 making less than about $33,000 per year).
• The City also has significant “place-based” needs for community development, including improving neighborhood environments, addressing dilapidated housing, increasing home ownership, and encouraging private sector investment.
• The availability of rental units affordable to extremely low-income households (i.e. a family of 4 making less than about $20,000 per year) is fairly limited in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties.
• The City’s housing and community development goals are to: 1) Provide decent & affordable housing to low and moderate income households; 2) Improve the livability of targeted neighborhoods; and 3) Create economic development opportunities for low and moderate income residents.
• The City plans to focus efforts in a single area – the Carver Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area – to maximize the impact of available funding.
• For 2010-11, the City will receive $374,173 from HUD for the CDBG program. These funds are proposed to be used for road/infrastructure improvements in the Carver area, grants to local non-profits for community services, repayment of the Section 108 loan, and administration.
• For 2010-11, the City will receive $124,597 from HUD for the HOME program. These funds are proposed to be used for transitional housing in partnership with Cooperative Christian Ministry and for downpayment assistance for eligible, first-time homebuyers.

Fighting homelessness takes multiple groups

It felt good to read this article in yesterday’s Neighbors section of the Observer. It’s about how the Dale Jr. Foundation is donating $5,000 to Family Promise to purchase a trailer to transport homeless families’ possessions. Family Promise of Cabarrus County partners with local churches to provide temporary shelter for homeless families while also helping these families to find jobs and stable housing. The City of Kannapolis provided some of its community development funding to Family Promise for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

Where did the trailer come from that Family Promise is getting? Golden Gait Trailers, the Kannapolis business that I recently blogged about. They provided the trailer at a deeply discounted price. So it takes multiple groups – foundations, government, businesses, and churches (or should we say a whole community?) – to support local efforts to fight homelessness, especially in these tough times.

So thanks to all the participating groups, Family Promise is able to better meet its mission. If you are interested in supporting Family Promise, their wishlist describes some of their needs.

Downpayment Assistance for Homebuyers

Yesterday, Louise Mack from Prosperity Unlimited presented to the realtors at Team Honeycutt information about the downpayment assistance programs that are available to first time homebuyers. Most people have heard about the federal tax credit that was part of the Recovery Act. However, there is additional assistance available to qualified homebuyers that is meant to increase access to home ownership and stabilize the housing market.

The City of Kannapolis, through funds from HUD, offers downpayment assistance to first time homebuyers who are within 80% of the area median income ($37,250 for a 1-person household, $53,200 for a 4-person household in Cabarrus County for 2009). If you buy a house within the City limits, you can get up to $5,000 in downpayment assistance or up to $15,100 if you buy a house in the Carver revitalization area. Prosperity Unlimited administer the downpayment program on behalf the City.

There are additional downpayment assistance programs administered by Prosperity that work for homebuyers up to 120% of the area median income ($55,875 for a 1-person household, $79,800 for a 4-person household in Cabarrus County for 2009). These programs offer up to $25,000 in downpayment assistance if you buy a foreclosed home or unsold builder’s inventory (basically a new house that a builder was unable to sell).

Generally the maximum sales price of the house is $230,000, but that depends on the specific program used.

These programs can make a house much more affordable. For example, depending on the program, a $120,000 house can result in a monthly mortgage payment (including taxes & interest) of under $600, which is comparable to (or sometimes less than!) rent these days.

There are various eligibility requirements tied to the different programs, so to find out more, contact Prosperity Unlimited at 704-933-7405.