County staff report on home repair contracts, CDBG award and bond allocations; some funds under review after rescission

Buncombe County staff gave the subcommittee a status report on several home-repair contracts and housing funding streams during the Aug. 5 meeting.

Nancy Williams, who presented quarterly funding updates, said the county received $400,000 through a strategic partnerships award (Harbor at MRAD) and that the program paired county funds with partners including Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity and Mountain Housing Opportunities. Williams said Habitat was funded $280,000 and completed a contract to perform 22 home repairs aimed at low- and moderate-income homeowners; Mountain Housing Opportunities received $120,000 with a goal to repair four homes and had completed its draws and reporting as of June.

Williams said demographic tracking for the completed program showed that 30 households were served: she reported that 73% of participants identified as White, 20% as African American and 6% as Native American or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; she said many participants were female-headed households and that elderly and disabled residents were among those served.

On community development block grant (CDBG) funds, Williams said the county applied for a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant/Neighborhood Revitalization award through the North Carolina Department of Commerce in 2022 and that an RFP awarded $200,000 to Habitat for home repair. Williams said Habitat later requested to rescind that contract because of recovery needs (the meeting referenced ongoing recovery planning related to Hurricane Helene). County staff said they were in discussions with Commerce about how to amend or repurpose the grant funds to support recovery priorities and that final decisions will be coordinated with commissioners and Commerce.

Jake Heckburn reviewed FY24/FY25 contract movements and noted that some bond funds remain unallocated. He said the amount of larger unallocated bond funds is about $9.5 million; funds that were attached to a Swannanoa tax-credit project that did not receive credits would be returned to the unallocated pool and considered for future projects. Staff and committee members discussed coordinating bond funds allocation with the Helene recovery plan to avoid gaps in home-repair services for households whose needs are unrelated to the recovery effort.

The subcommittee also approved routine minutes and conducted leadership appointments during the meeting (see a separate article on appointments). No new county-wide program reallocations were approved at this meeting; staff requested further direction from commissioners and indicated follow-up with Commerce and other funders.

Ending: Staff said they will continue conversations with Commerce about amending the rescinded CDBG contract and bring recommendations to commissioners and the subcommittee when options are defined.