Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
6 <br /> <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: <br />The Orange County Board of County Commissioners, on June 19, 2018, approved an initial <br />$100,000 appropriation for a new local voucher program known as the Orange County Local <br />Rent Supplement Program. In addition, the HOME Consortium, now known as the Local <br />Government Affordable Housing Collaborative and consisting of the towns of Carrboro, Chapel <br />Hill, and Hillsborough, as well as Orange County, approved a recommendation to award <br />$139,613 in FY 2018-19 HOME funds to be used for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance. Of the <br />aforementioned amount, $114,613 would serve as leveraged resources for the new OC Local <br />Rent Supplement Program. The remaining amount of $25,000 will be used for the Rapid Re- <br />Housing Program. The federal Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) approved <br />the FY 2018-2019 HOME grant award on October 3, 2018, and the grant agreement was fully <br />executed on October 10, 2018 by the County Manager. <br /> <br />The new OC Local Rent Supplement Program (OC-LRSP) in many aspects mirrors the <br />federally-funded Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. However, it is also designed to allow <br />for flexibility in meeting local identified housing needs. For the full program overview and <br />proposed guidelines of the new OC-LRSP, see Attachment 1. In addition, a draft implementation <br />timeline and a copy of HUD’s FY 2019 Fair Market Rents (FMRs) are also included as <br />Attachments 2 and 3, respectively. The listed rents serve as the payment standards for the <br />rental subsidies offered under the new program. It should be noted that there has been an <br />increase in the FMRs in FY 2019 as opposed to those originally <br /> <br /> Sherrill Hampton thanked the BOCC for supporting this program, and said it will be <br />another tool in the housing toolbox. She reviewed the following PowerPoint presentation: <br /> <br />PART I: OVERVIEW OF THE NEW ORANGE COUNTY LOCAL RENT SUPPLEMENT <br />PROGRAM (OC-LRSP) <br />A. OVERVIEW <br />The Local Rent Supplement Program is a new rental subsidy program approved by the Orange <br />County Board of County Commissioners on June 19, 2018 with an initial injection of capital in <br />the amount of $100,000. The County’s HOME Consortium, the Local Government Affordable <br />Housing Collaborative, is providing $114, 613 in FY 2018-2019 HOME funds for tenant-based <br />rental assistance as leveraged funds to assist in the implementation of the OC-LRSP. The <br />County will enter into an agreement with the Orange County Housing Authority (OCHA) to <br />administer the new program. <br /> <br />The OC-LRSP provides monthly rental subsidies that cover the difference between the rents <br />that low-income families and individuals can afford to pay and the actual monthly cost of rent for <br />the unit. The new program addresses one of the priority housing needs identified in Orange <br />County’s FY 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan, as well as the recently released Affordable Housing <br />Coalition’s 2018 Affordable Housing Summit Report. <br /> <br />The new program is designed to complement the federally-funded Housing Choice Voucher <br />(HCV) Program, which is administered by OCHA and will assist families and individuals who <br />earn 50% or less of the Area median Income with priority going to those who are very low <br />income (30% of AMI or less). The program promotes community-wide planning and strategic <br />use of resources to address the jurisdiction’s unmet needs and to narrow the gap in benefits <br />and services received by cost-burdened families. <br />