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Senate file 2950 would fund Rondo Community Land Trust pilot with $11.5 million
Summary
Senate File 2950 would appropriate $11,500,000 in one‑time funding to the Rondo Community Land Trust to expand a homebuyer pilot for households at or below 115% of area median income in Ramsey and Dakota counties. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus.
Senate File 2950, introduced in the Senate Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention, would provide $11,500,000 in one-time state funding to the Rondo Community Land Trust to expand a homebuyer initiative pilot for Ramsey and Dakota counties.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Sarah Pappas, told the committee that escalating prices, stagnant wages and rising interest rates have made homeownership difficult for low-income households and that programs such as community land trusts are among the tools policymakers can use. “This bill illustrates just that,” Pappas said, introducing the proposal.
The Rondo Community Land Trust, represented at the hearing by Makiya Griffin, executive director, asked the committee to support the appropriation as a way to expand permanently affordable homeownership. Griffin said the land‑trust model “lowers the barrier to homeownership” by retaining ownership of the land while allowing homeowners to build limited equity. She described the program’s approach: grants to increase purchase power, a post‑purchase rehab grant to address deferred maintenance, and resale restrictions that recycle proceeds to future buyers.
Griffin told lawmakers the trust’s pilot closed 31 home purchases in 2024 and that nearly 100 families remain on a waiting list. A homeowner who testified, Raikik Andershaw, said the program enabled the speaker, a single mother, to buy a home after years in a one‑bedroom apartment.
Senator Pappas acknowledged budget constraints and said the bill would be considered for inclusion in a future omnibus. The committee laid Senate File 2950 over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus.
The testimony focused on the pilot’s goal to help first‑time and historically excluded buyers and on how the land‑trust resale rules preserve long‑term affordability. The bill text in committee materials specifies eligibility for households with adjusted incomes at or below 115% of area median income and describes the funding as a one‑time appropriation to support the land trust’s homebuyer initiative pilot in Ramsey and Dakota counties.
Senate File 2950 was laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus; no final approval or appropriation was enacted in the committee hearing.
ACTIONS: Senate File 2950 was presented and laid over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus.
