(Posted April 26, 2017)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Madison County and the city of London are applying for $750,000 in federal funding to improve and provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents.
The Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) is administered through the state government. The application is due May 5. Typically, the state announces funding recipients by mid- to late-August.
The county and city are seeking funds in four categories:
- Home Repair—To provide grants to homeowners for major system repairs: plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, structural and handicap accessibility. The request is for $155,000 in CHIP money, with a local match of $800. The plan would be to fund repairs in at least 12 homes, said Whitaker Wright of CDC of Ohio, the planning firm that handles the county’s CHIP applications.
- Owner Rehabilitation—To provide homeowners with no-interest loans to bring their houses up to state residential standards. The request is for $270,000 in CHIP money, with a $37,200 local match. The plan would be to fund rehab projects for seven homes with loans of up to about $38,000 each.
- Tenant-based Rental Assistance—To help residents obtain short-term (12 to 18 months) rental payment assistance. The program targets households at or below 60 percent of the county’s median income. The county is asking for $35,000 in CHIP funds to help five households. The London Metropolitan Housing Authority manages this program.
- Rental Rehabilitation—To rehabilitate four units owned by the non-profit housing agency of the Madison County Board of Developmental Disabilities and to rehab one unit for the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Clark, Greene and Madison Counties. The county is asking for $200,000 in CHIP funds with a $10,400 local match. The funds come as no-interest loans.
In the home repair and owner rehabilitation categories, the local shares are not actually local tax dollars, but rather federal funds the county and city received in the past for housing-related programs.
Projects associated with the CHIP grant must be completed between Sept. 1, 2017, and Oct. 31, 2019. Funds are still available from the last round of CHIP funding, which expires this September.
Anyone interested in the home repair and owner rehabilitation funding can contact caseworker Emma Hall at (937) 218-1382 for an application.
Rental unit tenants interested in help with their rent or utility payments can call Trisha Sparks at the London Metropolitan Housing Authority at (740) 852-1888.
