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Benton County adopts ordinance creating local housing trust fund to pool and leverage housing aid
Summary
The Benton County Board adopted an ordinance establishing a permanent local housing trust fund to pool local housing aid and leverage state funding; Benton Economic Partnership will administer the fund and the county already has a dedicated housing account to seed it.
Benton County on Tuesday adopted an ordinance to create a local housing trust fund meant to pool county housing aid and leverage additional state and private dollars for housing programs.
County staff and Benton Economic Partnership (BEP) told commissioners the fund will let the county “park” local housing aid and use those dollars for targeted programming — for example a revolving home repair loan or "fix-up" program for aging housing stock — and to match or apply for competitive state funds. "The local housing fund is essentially a tool to park some of the local housing aid dollars into, so that we can utilize those funds for various different programming across the county," Amanda of Benton Economic Partnership said during the hearing.
Why it matters: the fund is intended as a standing financing tool that can increase the county's ability to apply for state competitive programs. Amanda said Minnesota Housing has an open request for proposals that would allow local governments with a housing trust fund to apply for up to $225,000 in matching state dollars.
How it will be managed: the ordinance names BEP as the fund administrator. BEP will develop program policies, applications and underwriting rules for any grants or loans the trust fund authorizes. Amanda told the board BEP already has draft policies and an application framework and expects to bring program specifics to the board once the ordinance is in place.
Seed funding and structure: commissioners were told the county already holds local housing aid in a separate account; Amanda said the current balance in that account is $242,668.31, and that interest earnings on the account would also be a dedicated source for the trust fund. Other eligible sources could include municipal fees, private contributions or philanthropy. The ordinance requires a dedicated source of funding in order to create the trust fund.
Public process and vote: no members of the public testified at the hearing. After questions from commissioners about funding formulas and program administration, the board voted to adopt the ordinance and direct its publication in the county's official newspapers.
What’s next: BEP will return with the program policies, applications and proposed loan/grant underwriting rules for the board’s consideration before any funds are disbursed.
