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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Eason and others are saying the HUD administration is forgiving the $1,1 million in "unearned grant expenditures", but that is not true. HUD is closing out the Univrsity Park Homeownership Zone (HZ97-035) that has been in existance since 1997 and transferring the obligation to the current NSP2 contract with even stiffer obligations. How can that be a win?
One Flint Journal reader got most of the issue but then he did not have the entire document!
Man Up October 06, 2011 at 5:13PM
Follow
Hey City of Flint pat yourself on the back. Jackie is happy, and that is so so important. So calm down.
Three quick points:
#1 The rescission of the penalty in no way proves or disproves any misuse of city funds.
#2 The problem here is timing. the sales prices of these houses don't reflect the market reality of a downturn market that is so low that you can buy a house for 50% or less of the cost to build one brand new.
#3 Per the details in this article, Flint was given a grant of 15 million for this particular stabilization project. That calcs out to $180,722 per house of spending for 83 houses. Now a builder is coming in to enjoy the benefit of that to try to sell $89,000 plus homes. It would take 43 years for Flint to recover the infrastructure investment alone using the current property tax formula on a $89,000 house. BRILLIANT That is if they stay occupied for 43 years.
I am a government fan, but this is not here. I don't mind stimulus plans, but the stimulus should have some good logic to it. It should provide benefits to more than 83 potential home buyers and a developer. If they do find a buyer, they will have to find buyers for overpriced new homes that also can qualify for a loan. Good luck with that. Buy a home that has an actual market value of half the sales price, and your lender will be ecstatic to lend you money for that fiasco. There seems to be more pressing issues to city blight than adding more homes to the city landscape.
Who got all this 15 million that was spent? Ms. Poplar says whatever it takes an if they want it or not. A private developer would do a proforma on this project, and it would never see the light of day. Maybe if it had hit 2002 market, but they would probably all be repossessed now anyway. LOL
Jackie is not worried, as the money is not coming out of her pocket. Bend over Flint Jackie says you got it coming honey.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Oct 07, 2011 3:59 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:15 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Here is the document:
received by Walling on September 19,2011
agreement signed by Walling on October 3,2011
Given to Council on October 5th at 3:30 pm for a 4:30 meeting
Subject: University Park Homeownership Zone
HZ97-035
Termination and close-out
On March 29, 2010, HUD wrote to advise you that HUD is terminating the City's UNiversity Park Homeownership Zone due to the City's failure to complete the Smith Village portion of the City's Homeownership Zone strategy ina timely manner. HUD required the City to repay $1,086,395 in "unearned" grant expenditires.
On May 14, 2010, you wrote to HUD requesting an opportunity for your new administration to complete the Smith Village Homeownership Zone project without the penalty of a required repayment of funds. Since that time your administration has been communicating with staff in the Community Planning and Development (CPD) Office of HUD's Detroit Field Office about your administration's intention to use the City's Neighborhood Stabilization (NSP-2) funds in order to build new mixed-income homeownership housing in the Smith Village neighborhood.
The Smith Village neighborhood has been designated as an NSP-2 area. The City and the State of Michigan (the NDP grantee) have committed to using their $14.7 million NSP-2 grant to complete 83 units of housing, of which at least 43 units will be sold to low-to-moderate income homebuyers. The land has been acquired eithe by the City or the Genesee County land bank Authority and dilapidated homes have been demolished. A reconfigured street pattern has been designed to improve safety. New community facilities are proposed for a future date, The city will also offer low-interest home improvement loans to 70 to 80 existing homeowners.
[Note; Engineering costs for the reconfigured streets and future street construction costs are needed. Walling also promised in his New Smith Village pamphlet new streets, lighting, sidewalks and trees. Phase one of three phases has already received council approval of over $767,000 of the total bid of $1,087,000 for the partial water and sewer infrastructure of this phase.]
Although the City's proposal fall short of the units previously required by HUD to avoid repayment. HUD recognizes that the economic conditions in the City of Flint and in the Smith Village neighborhood have significantly deteriorated since HUD's approval of Flint's Homeownership Zone strategy in 1998.
Hud finds that your administration's commitment to revitalize the Smith Village neighborhood using NSP-2 funds is consistent with the commitment the City originally made to HUD and the residents of Smith Village. Therefore HUD is prepared to terminate the University Park Homeownership
Zone without requiring repaymentof the $1,086,935 in "unearned" Homeownership Zone grant funds,
provided
, that the City specifically commits to the following actions by executing the enclosed "Homeownership Zone Grant Termination Cetification."
1. Maintain its commitment to revitalize the Smith Village neighborhood using Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP-2)
and other funds available to the City;
2. Develop a minimum of 83 new homeownership units in a concentrated area, of which a minimum of 51 percent will be sold to low- and moderate-income families.
3. Implement a low-interest home improvement program targeted to to 70 to 80 existing homeowners that supports the investment in new housing development.
4. Dedicate the administrative and technical resources necessary to impllement the revised Smith Village neighborhood as quickly as possible, including effective coordination among City agencies and priority for City approval processes; and
5. Give priority to the Smith Village neighborhood for the commitment of available City resources until the 83 homeownership units have been occupied and the 70 to 80 existing homeowners have been offered low-interest home improvement loans.
.........
Once HUD has received the City's executed "Home Ownership Zone Grant Termination Certification, HUD will terminate and close out "for cause" the City of Flint's University Park Homeownership Zone.
The letter was signed by Yoland Chavez, Deputy assistant Secretary for Grant Programs (202) 707-2690. |
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Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:23 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The final paragraph of the Termination Certification signed by Walling states:
The City of flint acknowledges that failure to implement these commitments in good faith, may result in HUD's disallowance and recovery of $1,086,935 in Homeownership Zone grant funds previously expended.
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Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:30 am |
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