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Texarkana City pursues HOME housing projects with TDHCA, KBB Homes; lottery required as demand exceeds match funds
Summary
City staff said Texarkana applied to the HOME program about two years ago with TDHCA and KBB Homes as partners to demolish and replace substandard houses; eligibility, a required lottery, and an alternate pathway for disaster- or disability-affected homes were explained.
Speaker 1, a staff member, said the city "applied for the HOME program about 2 years ago now." They described the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs as a partner and named KBB Homes as a participating builder: "The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, who's been an awesome partner in this process, as well as, KBB Homes, helping guide the city through the process where the homes are demolished and a new home is built in its place."
Staff outlined the program’s basic eligibility rules: income limits that vary by household size and a requirement that the house be rated substandard before applying. "For the requirements, you have to, there's an income requirement that varies depending on how many people live in the home. The house has to be, rated as substandard and, then you have to apply," Speaker 1 said.
Because the city’s match funds are limited, Speaker 1 said the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs requires a lottery when applications exceed available slots: "Once you apply, unfortunately, we have more applicants than we have, people that we can support through the match program ... And so, we have but TDHCA requires we have a lottery. And so we do a lottery draw."
Speaker 1 also described an alternative qualifying pathway for households affected by natural disaster or that include a disabled person: "if your home is affected by a natural disaster or if you're a person with disability or disabled person, then you can also enter into the program without a match."
On program scale, Staff projected the city could serve roughly 13 to 14 homes over a three-year period and called the work "an injection" of funds into the community. The numeric dollar figure spoken in the transcript was unclear and is not specified in this article.
The presentation did not include a vote or formal city action during the session; staff described the ongoing partnership and selection process and indicated the program will proceed through the city’s matching and TDHCA requirements.
