Housing Trust Fund Commission debriefs Round 15 awards, flags caps, underwriting and scoring changes for Round 16

The Housing Trust Fund Commission on Aug. 26 held a work session to debrief Round 15 of Barnes Fund awards and to gather public and commissioner feedback on policy changes staff may bring before the commission ahead of Round 16.

Director Hubbard told commissioners the round drew roughly $71,000,000 in funding requests and that recommended awards shifted the mix of projects: “of the recommended awards” staff reported, homeowner projects represented about 38 percent, rental about 60 percent, and owner-occupied rehab about 2 percent. Hubbard also noted Metro code requires a 20 percent set-aside for qualifying small organizations; for this round that set-aside equaled about $7.1 million but only about $3.7 million was awarded to small organizations, with the shortfall rolling into the general pot.

Why it matters: commissioners and speakers said the current rules and scoring produced unintended incentives — larger award caps encouraged applicants to request maximum grants, and bonus points designed to promote long-term affordability and other policy priorities sometimes skewed results toward specific project types such as cooperatives.

Staff review and recommendations

Hubbard summarized several staff findings and recommendations. She said the commission raised the maximum general award cap this year from $4,000,000 to $4,500,000 and the small-organization cap from $750,000 to $1,000,000; the change “limited the number of awards” and encouraged applicants to request the maximum. Staff recommended the commission revisit caps and consider implementing underwriting criteria so awards better match project feasibility and public investment goals.

On applicant readiness,…