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