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Over the past 16 months the Urgent Repair Program has accomplished the following <br />• Completed urgent repairs to 40 homes in Orange County; <br />• Begun repairs to seven (7) additional homes; <br />• Spent approximately 78 percent of its budget <br />Approximately 14 percent of total costs are for program administration while approximately <br />86 percent of total costs are for "hard costs" of repairs. <br />The total costs of repairs (including administration costs) average approximately $3,800.00 per house <br />and approximately 75 percent of the households served are owned by elderly persons. Disabled persons <br />occupy 17 out of the 40 repaired homes. <br />At their March 3, 1999 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners requested County staff <br />to prepare a statement of possible funding options for the Urgent Repair Program of Orange County. <br />Further, the Board asked for a report regarding the future administrative plan for the Urgent Repair Program <br />as well as a report on the County's current Single Family Rehab Program for the May 4, 1999 meeting. <br />At this time, OCHC is nearing completion of the second round of funding from the N.C. <br />Housing Finance Agency. The availability of additional State funding is not anticipated until the year 2000. <br />No alternative funding source has been identified for the remainder of this fiscal year nor the coming 1999- <br />2000 fiscal year. Thus, in the interest of continuing this program, the funding alternatives listed below are <br />proposed for the remainder of the current fiscal year (short-term) and the upcoming fiscal year (1999-2000) <br />which are considered long-term options. <br />Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes explained the urgent repair <br />program as described in the agenda. The agenda includes a progress report for the last two (2) years. At <br />the last regular Board of Commissioners meeting, the County Commissioners heard that funding for this <br />program will expire at the end of April. Tara Fikes summarized the short-term alternatives and stated that <br />the administration wants to concentrate on Items 2, 3, and 4 as listed below: <br />Short-term Alternatives - Fiscal Year 1998-99 <br />1. A special funding request can be presented to the Carrboro Board of Alderman; the Chapel Hill Town <br />Council; the Hillsborough Town Board; and the Orange County Board of Commissioners to provide funds <br />for housing repairs and administrative costs. <br />2. The County receives Community and Home Block Grant funding from the State each year in order to <br />provide services to elderly citizens that will enable them to remain in their homes. (Seventy-five [75°x] <br />percent of the program beneficiaries to date have been elderly.) Joint Orange Chatham Community Action <br />(JOCCA); the Department on Aging; and the Department of Social Services presently utilize these funds for <br />program eligible expenditures. There may be a possibility of available unspent funds during this fiscal year <br />which could be used for this program. <br />3. In prior years, some funding for this program has come from the Orange County HOME Program - <br />approximately $58,000.00. In order to reprogram existing funding for this purpose, the HOME Consortium <br />(all local governments) would have to agree to the reallocation of funds. It should be noted that federal <br />housing funds are difficult to use for this type of program due to the regulatory requirement of repairing <br />housing to meet local housing code standards. <br />4. Request the Department of Social Services to investigate the availability of WorkFirst funding for <br />families participating in the WorkFirst program. <br />A meeting has been scheduled between local housing and social service organizations to discuss the <br />program's future including funding challenges.