Reports - Mississippi Renewal

72 | AFFORDABLE HOUSINGRecommendation 28: Housing RecoveryOversight. The state legislatureshould immediately create an entityresponsible for coordinating the overalleffort to rebuild affordable housingwithin the Katrina-affected counties.The entity would, for example, helpoversee the implementation of many ofthe recommendations provided withinthis report. This entity should be establishedimmediately to provide continuityon housing issues after the Governor’sCommission has finished its initialwork. The cost for this recommendationshould be relatively low, requiring fundingto pay for salaries and office spacefor a few staff members. While this maybe funded by the state, there may bevarious additional sources of funding atthe federal level or from grant-makingfoundations available as well.Recommendation 29: CoordinatedFunding Management. An entityshould be established to identify, collect,prioritize, and disburse available fundingsources for the development andrenewal of affordable housing. Specifictasks would include:■ Coordinating different public fundingmechanisms, such as HUD funds,CDBG funds, low-income tax credits,and new market tax credits, andfacilitating the flow of resourcesfrom state and federal agencies towhere they are most needed.■ Coordinating the funds and effortsoffered by philanthropic and NGOprograms such as Habitat for Humanityor the Enterprise Foundation.■ Developing clear criteria for prioritizingthe disbursal of funds toaffordable housing projects, whichmight include local demographicfactors, business employment needs,safety and efficiency of proposedMany smallcontractorsare workingin SouthMississippiwith littleexperiencein large-scaleprojects, andwill likelyhave difficultycompetingfor contractsagainstlarger, moreestablishedfirms fromoutside theregion.development, and consistency withintended design guidelines.■ Coordinating the participation ofvarious entities – public, private, andnonprofit – within specific projects.The state should establish this plan,though it may be structured as a nonprofitentity so as to gain access to varioussources of funding. While this entityshould be established as quickly as possible,the complexity of its responsibilitiessuggests that it may take six to ninemonths to create. It will require substantialcosts in the form of staff salariesand office space. Fortunately, many ofthe potential funding sources such asnew market tax credits may allow forsome portion to be dedicated to administrativerequirements. Over time thisentity should be self-funding with littledependence upon the state.Recommendation 30: Outreach andEducation. Many aspects of the rebuildingprocess will be either financiallycomplex or technically novel. For thisreason, there should be an entity capableof offering educational outreach ona variety of issues to residents, developersand communities. This will be particularlyimportant for assisting low-income,historically-significant areas suchas Turkey Creek, Point Cadet, and theKreole neighborhood of Moss Point.Outreach centers should be spreadthroughout the Coast and be easily accessibleto all communities affected bythe hurricane. Specific educational outreachroles would include:■ Developing financial literacy programsto help residents and buildersunderstand financial opportunitiesthat are available for affordable housing.Preexisting credit problems, incomedisruption, and existing mortgageshanging over families that facesignificant new debt to rebuild will