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39 <br /> 1 b. Longtime Homeowner Assistance (LHA) Program Report— 2024 Results <br /> 2 The Board received a report on the results of the Calendar Year 2024 Longtime Homeowner <br /> 3 Assistance (LHA) program, which provides assistance to longtime low-income Orange County <br /> 4 homeowners on their property tax bill. <br /> 5 <br /> 6 BACKGROUND: For 2024, Housing staff again utilized the Orange County Board of <br /> 7 Commissioners 2023 authorized updates to the program design for the Longtime Homeowner <br /> 8 Assistance (LHA) program to: <br /> 9 • Increase the baseline minimum award amount: a minimum award amount of$200 <br /> 10 • Introduce a baseline maximum award amount: $1,500 <br /> 11 • And use the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Housing Trust Fund <br /> 12 (HTF) Homeownership Value Limits ("95% limits") as the maximum home value eligible <br /> 13 for the Longtime Homeowner Assistance program. <br /> 14 County staff worked with community partners on a five-month media campaign to increase <br /> 15 awareness about program eligibility and how to apply, with the goal of increasing the number of <br /> 16 program applicants from 2023. LHA media campaign efforts in 2024 included: <br /> 17 • The Tax Office sent the LHA program information flyer alongside the 2024 Tax Bills that <br /> 18 were mailed in August 2024. <br /> 19 • County staff worked with community partners at the Jackson Center, Homeowners United, <br /> 20 and Justice United to promote the LHA program. <br /> 21 • Organized visits to local churches and the Rogers Road and Cedar Grove Community <br /> 22 Centers to complete LHA applications and distribute LHA flyers. <br /> 23 • Partnered with church congregations in Orange County, including in northern Orange, to <br /> 24 share information. <br /> 25 <br /> 26 Unlike previous years, advertisements were not placed in area newspapers. This saved the <br /> 27 County more than $10,000 in administrative costs and did not appear to impact the accessibility <br /> 28 of the program (the number of applications increased from this year from 2023 by 11%). <br /> 29 <br /> 30 Staff calculated award amounts using the following guidelines: <br /> 31 <br /> 32 • All applicants were arranged in priority order <br /> 33 o FIRST: Tax Burden, largest to smallest <br /> 34 o SECOND: Length in Home, longest to shortest <br /> 35 o THIRD: Age, oldest to youngest <br /> 36 • Full awards were allocated to as many participants as possible using $75,000 of the <br /> 37 $250,000 available funding. <br /> 38 • Staff determined a multiplying factor for the remaining $175,000 in available funding and <br /> 39 used this to reduce all other awards by the same percentage. <br /> 40 • All eligible homeowners received a minimum award amount of $200 or up to the full <br /> 41 amount of the County portion of their tax bill if it was less than $200. <br /> 42 • Award amounts were the County portion of the tax bill less 2%of the applicant's household <br /> 43 income. <br /> 44 <br /> 45 Between August 1 and December 15, 2024, the County received 604 applications and awarded <br /> 46 $323,824 (including $73,824 in Town of Chapel Hill supplemental funding) to 484 households for <br /> 47 property tax assistance. The minimum award amount was $200. The average award amount for <br /> 48 recipients was $498.01, and the median award amount was $369.77. <br /> 49 <br />