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Chapter 11, Article 2, Section 11-21 of the Hawaii County Code (2016 Edition As amended) provides that at least $5,000,000 per year shall be appropriated for the Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) to facilitate programs that support affordable housing production. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25, OHCD was appropriated $9 million, with an additional $5.5 million planned for reapprophation from a canceled FY2023-24 project. In January 2024, OHCD initiated the process of amending the AHP Program Administrative Rules to improve the program's effectiveness. A public comment period for the proposed amendments ran for 30 days from February 14 to March 15, 2024, followed by a public hearing in March to gather input and testimony. After reviewing the feedback, OHCD finalized and published the amended rules in April 2.024. In addition to the public hearing, OHCD held two public meetings in March to gather community feedback on the County's affordable housing needs, as required by the AHP Program Administrative Rules Section §3-3 Grant Application Process (3). Key input from these meetings included the need for homeownership initiatives, addressing the needs of gap groups, workforce housing development, and infrastructure improvements to support housing construction. Based on community feedback and various affordable housing studies, OHCD developed the AHP Program Goals and Priorities for the FY2024-25 Request for Proposals (RFP). The RFP was issued on May 1, 2024, with a submission deadline of July 1, 2024, at 4:30 HST. In May, OHCD also held two informational meetings to outline the RFP process and offer technical assistance to potential applicants- OHCD received 13 proposals requesting approximately $48 million in funding, all reviewed under the AHP Program Administrative Rules and Section 4 of the FY2024-25 AHP Program Proposal Guide. Following the Mayor's final approval, OHCD awarded funding to 4 applicants who met the eligibility requirements stated in Section 2-137 of the Hawaii County Code and. were elected as the best candidates to administer projects addressing affordable housing. SIGNED: DATE: Department Head