Affordable Housing Senate Bill 04-20-1999 5b

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entire annual allocation of HOME and CDBG funds from the federal govemment.(3) This investment vuould be shared by all Orange County residents equally -one penny for every $100 of assessed value. For a family living in an average-priced house in Orange County, this would be about $18 per year. The Money is Needed and Can Be Used • Developers need steady, dependable financing sources to rationally plan their affordable housing activities. • Rising costs for land and construction have increased the amount of subsidy required to make each unit of housing affordable. • Current requests for HOME and CDBG exceed expected funding by nearly a quarter of a million dollars, excluding funds needed for public housing renovations. Habitat for Humanity, EmPOWERment, Inc., and Orange Community Housing Corporation could easily use mare than half of the $1.8 million housing bond funds in the next fiscal year alone. (4) Administration The HOME Consortium, which includes representation from all four local governments, is an established vehicle for managing these funds. • We propose that the housing trust fund use the current guidelines for the HOME program, which offer an excellent framework for alkx•.ation of funds on aproject-specific basis. • To develop the capacity and productivity of local nonprofit housing developers, we recommend the flexibility to use up to 10% of a project award for administrative and organizational development expenses. • This proposal keeps decisions about local tax dollars at the local level. Notes (1) Report to Shaping Orange County Task Force, Jarxrary 1999 (2) Calculation of affordability using standard 2 1/2 times annual income (3} Accoreng to the county finance erector, a penny on the tax rate in fish{ year 1998-99 would currently yield $649,884: (Assessed value) (tax rate of .902/100) (collection rate of 98°.6) _$649,884. The assessed value increases 2-4°,6 arwxaally. {4) Taken from informal survey of ABODE members