OHFA Annual Plan - Ohio Housing Finance Agency

Recommendations for Annual Plan Advisory Board• With such limited resources available, state programs should give priority tocommunities that have infrastructure in place. It is less costly to adapt/reuse or teardown and rebuild where you have existing infrastructure.• OHFA’s Qualified Allocation Plan should give priority to the Section 515 funds from RuralDevelopment. There are limited Section 515 funds and they need the leverage of taxcredits to be most successful.• More priority and funding needs to be given to preservation of rental units in the ruralarea. The single family homes may not be feasible to save but apartment complexes,especially those with tenant subsidy need to be preserved as they cannot be replaced.• Down payment assistance grants take care of the equity requirement on the front endfor home purchase but not the long term affordability. For those who are ready forhomeownership, interest rate assistance is needed as a bridge.• Development of individual septic systems in the rural areas can be very costly. Thecost for required systems in some counties makes home development cost prohibitive.There needs to be requirements from the state level for local health departments tohave consistency in the development of individual sewer systems. If consistency is notobtained, OHFA should be flexible in administering programs to account for the addedcosts.• Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) funding offered through OHFAmust be maintained at past levels or increased. There is a current lack of support forCHDOs in the rural areas. In many cases there is only one non-profit developer in acounty or several surrounding counties. If they are not supported, there is no one totake over the work they are doing, and it may take many years for someone else tobuild the capacity if it ever happens. This differs in the urban areas where there areoften several nonprofit developers in one city. We recommend an annual set-asideof operating funds for rural CHDOs with special consideration for areas of distress(i.e. poverty, high foreclosures, vacancies, etc.). We also recommend incentivesfor participating jurisdictions (PJ) to assist CHDOs in their own jurisdiction. It is notappropriate for the PJ’s to use all their HOME funds for other purposes, and then relyupon the state to provide funding for the local CHDO.• The state needs to look closely at the additional funding that it is receiving from theHousing and Economic Recovery Act (HR 3221) and prioritize funding for strugglingrural and Appalachian areas.• Although we think OHFA should continue to promote green and sustainable constructionpractices, it can be more difficult to fully comply in rural areas. The impact of reducedenergy costs is a great benefit to the rural population where incomes are already low.We recommend special consideration be given to allow rural properties to comply to theextent possible and still receive consideration for additional points or preference givento green buildings.• With the tightening of the credit market, it is becoming more difficult to developaffordable rental housing in the rural areas. Due to the tight cash flow they are lessattractive to tax credit investors. Through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HR3221), Ohio now has the ability to use a 30 percent boost for tax credit projects. Werecommend consideration be given to allow this boost in rural areas that are difficult todevelop, especially in the current market conditions.95