Program will help homeowners

A new program will be available to low income homeowners in Jay County.

Jay County Council and Jay County Commissioners agreed Tuesday to move forward with creating an owner occupied rehabilitation program for local residents.

The program will be funded with the $1 million Jay County will receive for being a part of the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP), a planning process through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affair for how to spend federal coronavirus relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Mike Kleinpeter of Kleinpeter Consulting explained to council and commissioners Tuesday how the program will work. Low-income homeowners may apply for the program, which will cover improvements such as a new roof, furnace or air conditioner. Expectations are to make improvements to between 50 and 75 homes.

Commissioner Rex Journay asked how much money would be used for each applicant’s project.

Guidelines for OCRA’s Owner Occupied Rehabilitation program started in 2021 show applicants typically receiving between $10,000 and $15,000 for their projects. (Kleinpeter noted Jay County has a larger amount of funding going toward its version of the program.)

To be qualified as low-income, applicants must make at or below a salary threshold. Those amounts are as follows: one-person household, $44,200; two-person household, $50,500; three-person household, $56,800; four-person household, $63,100; five-person household, $68,150; six-person household, $73,200; seven-person household, $78,250; eight-person household, $83,300. 

Journay also asked how long the county will have to take action with the program.

Typically, said Kleinpeter, OCRA’s iteration of the program cycles within 18 months, but the county’s timeline likely stretches until the December 2026 deadline for American Rescue Plan Act dollars to be spent.

The work must be completed by licensed and insured contractors. Kleinpeter said the process would likely include a scoring process and lumping several house projects together in each contract.

Journay asked who would be in charge of deciding which residents to award funding. Kleinpeter noted it would likely be a county official decision or up to a scoring committee.

“It’ll probably be like most, first-come, first-serve, when the money runs out, it runs out,” said council vice president Faron Parr.

Applicants will have to meet the criteria as well, pointed out council president Jeanne Houchins.

Council and commissioners met with Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs in May to discuss potential options for the $1 million. The extra funding — it was an incentive for communities to spend at least a third of their American Rescue Plan Act dollars on projects stipulated in the strategic investment plan created for HELP —  comes from Community Development Block Grant funds, meaning there are different guidelines for how the money can be spent. (It must respond to the coronavirus pandemic.) Those guidelines severely limited county officials’ options included in the strategic investment plan.

Commissioners approved a roughly $80,000 contract June 12 with Kleinpeter Consulting for its services as a certified grant writer and aid in the HELP process. Council on June 14 discussed ideas, which included broadband, trail projects or transitional housing.

Commissioners and council members also amended the county’s strategic investment plan for HELP this month to include the $1.1 million purchase of 68 acres located on the western edge of Portland along Indiana 67. (The land acquisition should count as the county’s requirement to spend at least a third of its American Rescue Plan Act funds on projects in the HELP plan.)

Houchins asked Kleinpeter to clarify another option discussed previously by county officials to fund service programs, planning grants or economic development grants. Kleinpeter pointed out most of those ideas are not included in the strategic investment plan.

Commissioner Brian McGalliard, who has been involved in the planning process with Kleinpeter and OCRA, noted they also looked into transforming a portion of Jay County Country Living into a transitional housing facility. The idea was turned down because the facility would not solely provide space for those in need of transitional housing.

Jay County’s strategic investment plan included a sentence suggesting funding could be used for various housing development projects, including an owner occupied rehabilitation program.

Kleinpeter pointed out OCRA needs a decision on the matter before Friday.

“If we can help, 50, 75, 100 people in this county have a more comfortable home to live in and not have to worry about, you know, ‘Gosh I need a roof, I don’t know how to pay for it,’” said Houchins. “I think that, of all the things we’ve planned, it’s down to this one. I think it’s a great program.”

Council and commissioners both agreed to designate the funding for the program.