CdA may seek HUD funds
The Coeur d’Alene City Council will decide Tuesday whether to hire consultants to help the city qualify for a steady flow of federal money for housing needs, specifically ensuring that middle-class workers can buy homes.
The council is expected to approve a $23,650 contract with BBC Research and Consulting of Denver, the same firm that did the city’s initial housing study that confirmed that there are not enough homes on the market for people earning less than $50,000 a year.
This time BBC consultants will hash out a plan for how Coeur d’Alene would spend the federal money, estimated at $308,000 annually, if it becomes a designated federal Housing and Urban Development entitlement city.
Securing the designation is the first step needed for the city to try to solve its housing problem. The December study showed about half the city’s population has difficulty finding a home they can afford, meaning houses with a median value of about $130,000. It also spelled out ways to execute many of the recommendations it contained. Being designated a HUD entitlement city would provide a dependable, annual amount of federal money instead of forcing the city to compete for annual block grants like it does now, said Councilman Mike Kennedy.
Coeur d’Alene doesn’t have the staff to pursue the HUD designation and that’s why it needs to rehire the consultants, he said.
“They will tell us what to do that is the most effective in the shortest amount of time,” Kennedy said.
To become a designated city, Coeur d’Alene has until July 2 to send a letter of intent to HUD. The city would then have until the end of October to complete the spending plan that would be drafted by BBC consultants. If approved, the city should get the first payment in January.
During an affordable-housing panel discussion Friday at the Association of Idaho Cities Conference at the Coeur d’Alene Inn, Kennedy said affordable housing for workers isn’t just an issue for Kootenai County, but all across the state and throughout the West.
St. Maries Mayor Robert Allen said the problem isn’t isolated to resort areas and that workers in more rural towns like St. Maries also find it difficult to buy homes.
At the conference, the Idaho Housing and Finance Association unveiled a work force housing “tool kit” that’s aimed at helping counties and cities address work force housing needs
IHFA President Gerald Hunter said it’s like a menu where governments can pick what would work best in their communities, such as allowing developers to build more homes per acre in exchange for including affordable homes in their projects, or establishing land trusts and homebuyer assistance funds.
“We brought together all the strategies we think have application in Idaho,” Hunter said.
Panelist Bruce Chatterton, Boise’s planning and development director, said no matter what strategy a town picks to deal with affordable housing it must include local developers early on. He said that will help avoid complications and distrust.
“If you don’t engage the people who would be using the incentives, you really haven’t done anything,” Chatterton said.