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Governor Jim Gibbons hosted the first meeting of
his Housing Recovery Act Implementation Task
Force, opening the formal discussion regarding
how the state and local governments will
leverage their funding allocation from the
federal housing bailout this summer.
During the meeting the Governor announced the
creation of a pilot program where the Nevada
State Housing Division will partner with local
governments to help families purchase vacant,
foreclosed homes in neighborhoods that are
particularly troubled by foreclosure.
“By utilizing a portion of this federal funding
for this pilot project, the state and local
governments can help take some vacant homes off
the market, get qualified buyers into these
homes and help rejuvenate these neighborhoods
that have been dragged down by a glut of
foreclosures,” the Governor said.
Through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program
in the federal Housing and Economic Recovery
Act, the state received a total of nearly $72
million, the majority of which was directed to
specific communities in Clark County. The state
received nearly $24 million to distribute
throughout the state to areas of greatest need.
The state must submit an application to the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development by
Dec. 1 to get federal approval of how the state
and local governments will utilize the funding.
The Governor created the Housing Recovery Act
Implementation Task Force to coordinate this
application and the plans by local governments
in order to maximize these resources.
“Obviously, $72 million is not a lot of money
when looking at the size of the housing
foreclosure problem in Nevada,” the Governor
said. “During these tough economic times,
however, this funding provides an opportunity to
help communities in need. We need to work
together to ensure that we wring every ounce of
benefit out of this funding.”
The task force, which was chaired by Wells Fargo
Regional President Kirk Clausen, also included
Applied Analysis Partner Jeremy Aguero and
representatives from Clark County, the City of
Las Vegas, the City of North Las Vegas, the City
of Henderson, the City of Mesquite, the Nevada
League of Cities and the Nevada Association of
Counties. The specific communities represented
on the task force were those identified by HUD
for direct funding.
Also attending the task force meeting and
included in the discussion were representatives
of Washoe County, the cities of Reno and Sparks,
the Nevada State Housing Division and the State
Department of Business and Industry.
Per the federal legislation and regulations
written by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, the funding must be used to address
problems created by homes that have already gone
through foreclosure and cannot be used to
prevent additional foreclosures. Such uses could
include the purchase of homes, demolition of
blighted properties and creating financing
mechanisms to purchase or redevelop foreclosed
homes.
The Governor’s proposed pilot program would
create a financing mechanism by partnering with
local governments, tentatively identified as the
cities of Reno and Las Vegas, as well as Clark
County, to negotiate the purchase of foreclosed
homes in troubled neighborhoods by working with
the state Housing Division to find qualified
buyers through the existing first time homebuyer
program.
The pilot program, which is still to be approved
by the local governments, would allocate $2
million to each jurisdiction and requests a
local match. Aside from the purchase of homes,
the pilot project money could be used for down
payment assistance for buyers, cleaning up
abandoned properties to make them ready for
purchase and offering home buyer education,
among other uses.
“We got into this housing crisis one home at a
time, and we’re going to get out of this housing
crisis one home at a time,” the Governor said.
After holding back $6 million for the pilot
program and $728,623 for total program
administration costs, the state is left to
allocate $17,558,627 to local governments
throughout the state. The State Housing Division
has proposed allocating that funding by
percentage of population within the state.
Under that formula, Clark County will receive
$12,703,042, Washoe County will receive
$2,717,390 and the rural counties will share
$2,138,196. Those counties will be given
authority to decide how to distribute those
funds to the governments within their
jurisdictions.
The task force has agreed to meet again by
conference call next week to update each
jurisdiction’s planning activities. |
During
his trip, the Governor met with Interior Secretary Dick
Kempthorne, C. Stephen Allred, the Assistant Secretary of
Land and Minerals Management, officials from the Bureau of
Land Management, and officials from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to discuss energy issues, as well as
officials from the Department of Homeland Security to
discuss emergency interoperability.
