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Regional Housing Committee kicks off work to meet PA 25-1 deadlines, warns of tight timeline
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Summary
RiverCog’s regional housing steering committee began a multi-stage process to prepare a Regional Housing Needs Assessment and municipal housing goals required under PA 25-1, with OPM targets due Dec. 1, 2026 and the RHNA due June 1, 2027; committee members urged early engagement and review of OPM guidance.
Megan (Steering Committee lead) opened the March meeting of the Regional Housing Committee with a detailed kickoff of the work required to meet statutory deadlines under PA 25-1. She told the committee that the state’s Office of Policy and Management (OPM) will provide regional housing growth targets by Dec. 1, 2026, and that RiverCog must complete a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) and municipal affordable housing goals by June 1, 2027. Municipal and regional housing growth plans are due by July 1, 2028.
Megan said the committee will complete the work in two parts: part 1 is the RHNA and municipal goals (the “determination of housing need”), and part 2 will address the housing growth plans (the “accommodation of units”). She outlined four tasks — updating existing conditions, drafting a needs-assessment formula, allocating needs across municipalities, and compiling the final report — and urged the group to begin work immediately because the June 2027 deadline is only about 15 months away.
The presentation included a proposed meeting and workshop schedule spanning the next 15 months and a note that RiverCog has $200,000 from PA 25-1 to support housing work. Megan said RiverCog may solicit a consultant after the new fiscal-year funds become available in July to assist with technical calculations and methodology.
Committee members asked how OPM’s forthcoming targets would relate to RiverCog’s prior analysis. Jim Miller (committee member) asked whether state targets are likely to differ from the targets RiverCog prepared last year. Megan said OPM’s process appears flexible: the state may look at multiple types of need — not just new units — and COGs should document any methodological changes in the final narrative. She added that the COGs have been meeting with OPM staff and that OPM staff are open to feedback.
Megan invited committee members to review OPM’s preliminary housing growth plan guidelines (posted for comment) and suggested the committee submit joint questions and comments before the April 30 deadline.
The committee plans to present a draft needs-assessment formula and allocation approach in upcoming workshops, create municipal fact sheets, and return to the committee for a vote to recommend adoption to the COG board. Once the board adopts the plan, RiverCog will post the goals and begin the 30‑day opt-in clock for municipalities.
The meeting’s next steps include reviewing regional existing conditions in April and ongoing workshops through the coming year. The committee did not take formal policy action on the RHNA at this meeting.
