Agenda - 05-17-2005-5o - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: May 17, 2005 Action Agenda Item No.rj < (, SUBJECT: Project Modification - EmPOWERment, Inc. DEPARTMENT: Housing/Comm, Development PUBLIC HEARING: (Y!N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Letter from EmPOWERment, Inc. INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara L. Fikes, ext. 2490 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider approval of request to modify a FY 2001 Housing Band Project awarded to EmPOWERment, Inc, to allow sale of homes to persons earning up to 80% of area median income. BACKGROUND: On May 20, 2003, the Board of County Commissioners awarded $90,000 in Housing Bond fiands to EmPOWERment, Inc, to assist in construction of three single-family homes in the Northside neighborhood of Chapel Hill, In the original application, these homes would be sold to first-time homebuyers earning 60% or below of area median income, One of those homes has been built on Sykes Street in Chapel Hill and scld to a family earning less than 60% of area median income. In planning for construction of the remaining two houses, EmPOWERment has encountered significant increases in project development and construction costs as outlined in the attached letter, Thus, the organizaticn is now asking for permission to sell the remaining two homes to be constn~cted to persons earning 80% of the area median income. It is important to note that the Bond Program Evaluation Criteria includes an Income Targeting section where applicants may score a maximum of 25 paints depending on the income range targeted in the proposed project. The project as originally proposed scored 20 paints in this area, The requested change to serve those at 80% and below of median income would score 15 points out of a possible 25 points. Staff does not consider the loss of five (5) points as significantly altering the original recommendation for funding, FINANCIAL IMPACT: None. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends approval of request to modify a FY 2001 Housing Bond Project awarded to EmPOWERment, Inc, to allow sale of homes to persons earning up to 80% of area median income.