Council reallocates Housing Trust Fund money, shifting millions from multifamily construction to roof and rental rehab

The New Orleans City Council on Nov. 6 approved an amended implementation plan for the city’s Housing Trust Fund that shifts a portion of proposed small multifamily construction dollars into owner-occupied fortified roof work and rental rehabilitation programs.

Councilmembers adopted a motion to resubmit the Trust Fund budget and implementation plan with modifications that reduce the proposed small multifamily construction subsidy from $6,350,008.63 to $2,350,008.63; increase owner-occupied roof rehabilitation funding from $2,054,006.91 to $4,054,006.91; and raise funding for a small rental rehabilitation program from about $1,867,009.01 to roughly $3,860,067.00. The amendment also expands the owner-occupied roof-rehab scope so forgivable loans may cover other necessary repairs directly tied to installation of a fortified roof, and caps those associated repair loans at $25,000 per structure.

Maxwell Chardula, co-chair of the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee, told the council the advisory board prioritized programs that can “hit the ground running” and deliver units and roofs quickly to rebuild public trust in local government’s ability to produce housing. Chardula described a roughly $12 million spendable program budget after administrative and rainy-day allowances and said the committee’s priorities were two homeownership programs and two rental programs: new homeownership construction with fortified roofs, owner-occupied fortified roof rehab, a small multifamily construction subsidy and a small rental rehab program.

Councilmember Helena Moreno (mentioned in the motion text as the moving member) said Safety & Permits and City Planning are not yet ready to scale up the small multifamily program and recommended moving funds into programs more prepared to distribute funds quickly. Developer and consultant comments on the record said there is a ready pipeline of small multifamily projects in development; some speakers urged the council to preserve rental-development dollars because renter need remains highest.

The motion as amended passed on a roll call following debate (recorded in the meeting minutes and on the audio record). The council also instructed the Trust Fund Advisory Committee to review the amended plan when returned and to report back with concurrence or suggested alterations.

What remains unchanged: the HTF’s statutory framework and reporting requirements. The council did not change eligibility definitions for income levels in ordinance language during this vote; specific unit-size and per-unit cost definitions were discussed by commenters and committee members but were not fixed in the adopted motion.

The council’s action reallocates dollars within the Trust Fund’s first-year spending plan with the explicit goal of accelerating delivery and proving the program’s capacity to deliver affordable units and resiliency improvements in the short term.