Agenda - 09-09-2002 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Affordable Rentals. Inc 109 N. Graham Street, Suite 101, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 Orange County Housing/Community Development Dept. Afton able Housing Advisory Board Brian Crawford, Chair Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Attn:Tara Fikes, Dir. RE: Response to Housing Bond Policy Proposed Revision:August,2002 Dear Mr.Crawford: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to AHAB's proposed revision ofthe Bond Policy. Affordable Rentals, Inc. is a non profit organization which seeks to expand the availability of rental units in the County for families whose income is between 30-50%ofthe area median income. We buy, rehab,construct,and manage family rentals in cooperation with other local nonprofits.Our funding strategy leverages loans from below market lenders with public funding. We believe the Bond Policy revision is a big step forward in following up on a central recommendation ofthe Commissioners'Affordable Housing Task Force-Report(which several of our Board were involved in), namely, addressing the severe lack of affordable rentals.The proposed pooling strategy,and the 40%allocated for rental housing is a creative avenue for dealing with this aspect ofthe housing problem.The other pooling components guarantee other necessary and useful options to deal with housing issues. We also thinkthat the proposed changes in proposal review and project monitoring provides an apt mix of citizen and expert assessments.This will help select and move good projects forward to the desired purpose of all of us,affordable housing opportunities for County residents. We appreciate your consideration of our views. Sincerely, Nancy Milio President and Chair,AR Inc. Alex Asbun, Executive Director 1