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County details MPDU and critical workforce loan programs; staff report nearly $500,000 in loans issued this year
Summary
Kelly Huber of the county's housing office briefed the housing authority on two home-ownership support programs — the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) and the Critical Workforce loan programs — and said the county has issued roughly $500,000 in MPDU loans this year and about $150,000 in critical workforce loans.
Kelly Huber, housing program administrator for Queen Anne's County, described county-run programs designed to help first-time and moderate-income buyers, including a loan product that provides up to $50,000 interest-free to qualifying buyers.
Huber said the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) and the Critical Workforce loan programs provide deferred, interest-free loans to eligible buyers to help bridge affordability gaps. "In 2 and a half years that I've been doing it, I haven't had... an example there where they would be in default and we'd foreclose on them," Huber said, describing program administration and repayment expectations. She added: "I have done 10 moderately priced dwelling unit loans. I'm on my third critical workforce." She told the board the county has deployed nearly $500,000 in MPDU loans and about $150,000 for critical-workforce loans so far in the current period, and that total loans delivered historically are nearly $8 million.
Eligibility and program mechanics were discussed but specific income-threshold figures stated in the meeting transcript are incomplete; staff said qualification is based on income limits and primary-residence requirements and that the loan is junior in lien position. Huber said MPDU eligibility is targeted to households at the applicable income limits and that critical-workforce loans are aimed at jobs such as firefighters, police, EMS and teachers.
Huber also described the county's use of developer fee-in-lieu funds to support home ownership and rental affordability, citing recent developments that opted to pay fees rather than provide on-site affordable units. She gave Bay Bridge Marina (28 townhomes) as an example of a project that chose fee-in-lieu and said the authority expects to receive about $900,000 from that development's fee-in-lieu payment when finalized. Huber said the county continues to work with planning and zoning to capture affordable-housing requirements in large developments.
Why it matters: County loan programs and developer fee-in-lieu funds are active tools to increase homeownership and affordability in a county facing limited sewer/water capacity and constrained multi-family development. The record of recent closings and fund balances indicates an active pipeline of assistance.
What’s next: Huber said staff will continue to coordinate with housing-authority efforts, project developers and planning and zoning to apply loan funds, preserve existing housing, and expand rental and ownership opportunities.
