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Form * B-52
<br />7/18/91
<br />STAFF CONTACT
<br />DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
<br />REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
<br />Office of Housing and Community
<br />Development DATE: February 20, 2025
<br />Kehaulani Costa/Royce Shiroma PHONE: (808) 961-8379
<br />Please submit the attached bill to amend Ordinance No.24-32, as amended, the Operating Budget for the County of Hawaii for
<br />the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2025, to add additional Home Investment Partnership (HOME) Program allocation and appropriate the
<br />same for the General Fund, as follows:
<br />152.451.5469.02.115 Housing Production, Misc. Contract Svc
<br />010,951,5951_ HOME Program Income Repayment
<br />B. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION (USE ADDITIONAL SHEETS AS NEEDED):
<br />$ 451,221,00
<br />$ 451,221,00
<br />The HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) is a federal program from HUD, through the State HHFDC, that is allocated to the County of
<br />Hawaii every three years, on a rotation with the other neighboring Island counties. As required by federal statute, the County is required to allocate no
<br />less than 15% to a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) for affordable housing initiatives.
<br />For the 2018 HOME allocation, the County awarded $451,221,00 to Habitat for Humanity Hawaii Island, who qualified as a CHDO, to coordinate a
<br />self-help affordable housing project of 2 homes in Puna District, These funds were to pay for building materials only. Potential homeowners provide
<br />the labor, working alongside a certified general contractor,
<br />The deadline to complete construction of these 2 homes was July 18, 2024. However, through various obstacles such as COVID-19 Pandemic,
<br />change in Executive Directors, construction work scheduled on weekends only, and other unforeseen issues, these 2 houses were completed after
<br />the July 18, 2024 deadline, Due to completion occurring after the deadline, the State HHFDC and HUD have deemed this project ineligible and is
<br />requiring the County to pay back the expended HOME funds to the County's HOME Program Income Account for use on future Hawaii County eligible
<br />projects,
<br />To accomplish this, the OHCD will use Affordable Housing Production (AHP) funds to advance repayment. Use of the AHIP funds aligns with projects
<br />support of adding affordable housing units for low-income AMI families, In turn, Habitat for Humanity Hawaii Island will pay back the County using all
<br />proceeds of the sales of these 2 homes for the next 30 years. The 2 new homeowners have a 0% interest mortgage agreement with Habitat for
<br />Humanity Hawaii Island for only the cost of the materials (project total), to keep the cost affordable for them.
<br />Therefore, this appropriation needs to be created to allow the County to transfer funds to the HOME Program Income Repayment Account to allow it to
<br />be used for future HOME projects, This will provide proof to HUD that funds were repaid back to the HOME Program. Any delays in repayment will
<br />jeopardize future federal funding from HHFDC and HUD for affordable housing,
<br />The OHCD is requesting a breach to allow this B-52 to be processed, since this Request didn't meet February 18, 2025's 12:00 pm deadline. Also,
<br />the OHCD requests a waiver to bypass the Council's Finance Committee, to be placed on the County Council Agenda for the March 7, 2025 meeting,
<br />And finally, the OHCD is requesting to waive the 5-day Council hold on the March 19, 2026 County council Meeting.
<br />SIGNED: DATE
<br />Department Head
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