By David Nicholas
Michigan has been selected by the Obama Administration, HUD and USDA Rural Development to launch the nation's first pilot program that is designed to reduce regulatory procedures on affordable housing developers and owners.
The program is also meant to help state and federal agency staffs to more efficiently serve low-income families who rent their homes.
USDA Rural Development State Director James Turner was in Mt. Pleasant recently for the signing of the agreement. He said the partnership that also includes the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) is bringing together all of the departments that are involved with financing multi-family housing...
"Rural Development is invested in about 729 properties across the state. That represents about 18,000 units for low-income and disabled and elderly individuals. And many of these projects have multiple layers of financing that involve MSHDA and HUD and Rural Development and all are subject to, uh, what we call "subsidy layering reviews."
That, Turner said, is technical jargon for, in his words, "Making sure that we're not over-spending tax dollars on subsidies for these units."
He said there will now be one survey instead of three or more of any given property to simplify the information on file.
Michigan has been selected by the Obama Administration, HUD and USDA Rural Development to launch the nation's first pilot program that is designed to reduce regulatory procedures on affordable housing developers and owners.
The program is also meant to help state and federal agency staffs to more efficiently serve low-income families who rent their homes.
USDA Rural Development State Director James Turner was in Mt. Pleasant recently for the signing of the agreement. He said the partnership that also includes the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) is bringing together all of the departments that are involved with financing multi-family housing...
"Rural Development is invested in about 729 properties across the state. That represents about 18,000 units for low-income and disabled and elderly individuals. And many of these projects have multiple layers of financing that involve MSHDA and HUD and Rural Development and all are subject to, uh, what we call "subsidy layering reviews."
That, Turner said, is technical jargon for, in his words, "Making sure that we're not over-spending tax dollars on subsidies for these units."
He said there will now be one survey instead of three or more of any given property to simplify the information on file.
