YNDC to take over Welcome Home Ohio build of eight houses; council to hear presentation Feb. 4

Struthers City Council members were told that Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (referred to in the meeting as YNDC) will assume responsibility for eight homes under the Welcome Home Ohio program after the council or its partners terminated the prior contractor. Speaker 2 said Tiffany and Ian from YNDC requested to present at the Feb. 4 meeting to explain their construction approach and the new set of plans, and council agreed to schedule them after the agenda item noting Mr. Melish’s item.

The council discussed whether taxes on the new properties could be diverted to the city through a TIF-like mechanism. Speaker 1 said the city should “tiff every single one” of the homes and argued diverting tax revenue from the county into the city would help fund further housing phases. Speakers 2 and 3 said the city has limited direct experience doing this in residential settings (citing a prior Aqua Ohio example) and asked staff to research feasibility. No formal decision was made.

Council members and staff also discussed program eligibility and sales pricing. Speaker 2 said earlier rounds had income limits near 80% of area median income but that a new round may use a different threshold; meeting participants noted the homes can be listed up to $180,000 and that one house on Wilson recently had its price reduced to about $165,000. Members observed that market timing (winter vs. spring) affects sales velocity.

Next steps: YNDC is scheduled to present on Feb. 4 to outline construction timelines and plans; staff were asked to investigate TIF/tax-diversion options and report back. No motion or vote occurred on contracting or tax diversion during this session.