Citrus County housing director details grants, vouchers and new grant applications

Michelle Alford, Citrus County housing services director, told the Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 20 that Housing Services is entirely grant-funded and spent roughly $4.5 million in grants during fiscal year 2024 to support county residents.

The presentation summarized multiple programs the division administers, how they are funded and what the county has recently awarded or applied for. "We are a fully grant funded division," Alford said, and described the department’s State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) funding, which the county receives from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and which is paid for from documentary stamp taxes on real‑estate transactions.

Alford said SHIP strategies include emergency home repair (roofs, HVAC, failed wells or septic), home rehabilitation and rental development support, including local match funding for affordable housing tax‑credit projects. She said the county recently awarded Habitat for Humanity of Citrus County $600,000 to assist about 30 low‑income families through a first‑time homebuyers program. Alford said the Bridal…