Southwestern NC HOME Consortium to reallocate returned HOME funds to rental construction; opens 30-day public comment period

Haywood County commissioners were notified on March 2 that the Southwestern NC HOME Consortium plans to amend its 2021 and 2022 annual action plans to reallocate returned HOME funds into a rental construction pool and to administer a separate HOME-ARP allocation for housing needs tied to homelessness and survivors of violence.

"What we are amending is, on the 2021 annual action plan, there is a $125,000 that was returned to us for a project that was for home ownership," said Lanae Schuler, project manager of housing for the Southwestern Commission. She said a $120,000 rehabilitation allocation from 2022 was also returned and both amounts are proposed to be placed into a new rental construction fund to better align with larger regional multifamily development.

Schuler said the consortium's annual HUD HOME allocation has averaged about $600,000 over the past five years and is automatically divided (10 percent for administration, 15 percent for CHODO set-aside, remainder for general entitlement projects). She described eligible applicants as state and local governments, for-profit and nonprofit developers, and CHDOs, and said broader eligibility means both developers and property owners can apply for project-specific funding.

Schuler also described a one-time HOME-ARP allocation of roughly $1.9 million tied to the American Rescue Plan and limited to households who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or fleeing violent situations. "We have to use those funds by 2030," she said, and staff plan a pre-application training session around May for prospective applicants.

The Southwestern Commission has also launched a disaster tenant-based rental assistance program that began accepting applications in January; Schuler said one household (a family of four) had been placed in housing and roughly 10 other applications were in process, subject to available units and funding.

Commissioners asked how the programs will be publicized; Schuler said outreach will include RFP-style notices to nonprofit and community partners, social media, flyers, and a public survey as part of the consolidated planning process. She said the consortium will prioritize shovel-ready projects to ensure HOME-ARP expenditures are completed by the statutory deadline.

The chair opened the hearing for public comment; no formal vote on the amendments occurred at the meeting. The consortium said the amendment materials will be posted beginning tomorrow and will be open for a 30-day public comment period.