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Committee directs staff to pursue South Carolina Housing Trust Fund partnership for home repair
Summary
Richland County’s Affordable Housing Ad Hoc Committee voted to direct the county administrator to pursue a partnership with the South Carolina Housing Trust Fund’s home repair program, citing larger statutory funding, reduced federal oversight and potential to expand service area; members asked staff to clarify lien terms and contractor capacity before implementation.
The Richland County Affordable Housing Ad Hoc Committee voted unanimously on July 14 to direct Administrator Brown to pursue a partnership with the South Carolina Housing Trust Fund Home Repair Program, a state-administered funding source staff said could expand the county’s home-repair capacity.
County housing staff presented the recommendation and said the state fund is statutory and built up over time, with roughly $60,000,000 available and growing. The presenter said the state program can provide larger per-house awards, enable an expanded eligible service footprint beyond the county’s current HUD block-grant borders, and would remove the county from certain federal environmental-review requirements. "They’re sitting on $60,000,000 worth of funds, and it’s growing by about 2 to $3,000,000 a month," the presenter told the committee.
Staff also described a financial incentive under the trust-fund model: for each completed house the county would receive a developer fee of about 15% that could be used as general fund revenue rather than HUD program income. The presenter said the maximum award per single-family home under state housing can be up to $75,000 (the program does not guarantee the maximum for every applicant), while the county’s current HUD-funded minor-repair cap is $24,500.
Council members pressed staff on operational details. Councilwoman Cooper said contractor capacity will limit how many houses the county can complete even if funds are available; staff noted a contractor workshop and an existing pool but said supply remains a limiting factor. Cooper also raised a concern about lien terms: "If you get the $75,000, then now it's a 20-year forgivable loan process," she said, adding that a long lien term may burden elderly homeowners or heirs. The presenter said state housing holds the lien on larger awards and that lien terms can range; staff committed to getting more detail on the reduction schedule for forgivable loans.
The motion to direct Administrator Brown to pursue the partnership passed by roll call of the members present (Terracio, Weaver, Cooper, Aileen, Mackey voting yes). The committee directed staff to return with implementation details, including clearer schedules for lien forgiveness, contractor procurement plans and recommended service-area boundaries before program launch.
Next steps: Administrator Brown will explore formal partnership steps with state housing and report back to the committee with the requested clarifications; staff tentatively expected committee follow-up in September.
