CONNECTICUT The State of Connecticut has a number of housing and community develop- CALIFORNIA In California, one of their activies is the Urban Community Development Program which provides technical and program assistance to local governments in order to promote the planning and implementation of urban housing and community programs. This includes efforts in rehabilitation and neighborhood preservation in which the poor can restore their homes and neighborhoods to meet local, state, and federal safety and sanitary standards. The California Housing Assistance Program is another effort which provides "Aftercare Housing" for the elderly, disabled and mentally retarded. 1,500 housing units have been constructed under this program. The state is also involved in a number of rural housing and development activities using state funds as well as federal and private funding. The state has recently become active in financing programs through the new WYOMING In Wyoming, the nation's energy demands have intensified the development of the state's natural resources of coal, gas, and oil. This development has affected all aspects of Community Development needs including: schools, police, fire, sanitation services, hospitals, and other public services. Wyoming has responded to the socioeconomic pressures created by the energy demands by initiating a Pilot Program to provide a coordinated response with the local, state, and federal governments to the comprehensive problems of developmental impact. The objectives of the program are two-fold: To solve the immediate crisis; and to establish an ongoing process and capacity for solving the problems of impaction. While the state has taken the initiative, the federal government must provide its resources and technical expertise in coordination with the state to help remedy impaction problems. MONTANA Montana is quite concerned about the "impaction" problem that communities face in the process of producing coal to help meet our nation's energy needs. One state effort has been to use $650,000 of Old West Regional Commission funding to help alleviate the impaction that coal development will have on the Yellowstone River area. In addition, the Montana Future Process is an effort to analyze in a systematic way the future growth and development of the state's economy. Another Montana program assists local governments which have had to expand their services as a consequence of large-scale development of coal mines. The bill funds schools, construction, reconstruction and county land planning by inverting a portion of the tax revenue from the coal revenue. THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS In Massachusetts, one program that has gained a great deal of momentum is the Neighborhhod Improvement Program (NIP). This program's goals and objectives are to: (1) Strengthen neighborhood organizations; (2) Rehabilitate housing; (3) Encourage increased homeownership by residents of the neighborhoods; (4) Improve and expand neighborhood facilities; (5) Enlist the support of local government, business, and financial institutions. To achieve the above results, the following five state, federal and local programs have been coordinated: (1) The state funded Scattered Site Housing program; (2) The state's Leased Housing program; (3) Federal Community Development Block Grants; (4) Contributions by Private Lending Institutions; (5) Federal Section 8 New Construction and Substantial Rehabilitation. Along with the NIP Program, the Massachusetts Legislature has passed a bill providing funds for the modernization and rehabilitation of public housing. The goal of the bill is to upgrade public housing. The new law authorizes a $50 million bond issue. Yearly spending limits have been set at $12 million. The law is expected to create about 500 jobs per year in the construction trades. This piece of legislation will provide tenants with safe, decent and sanitary housing. The bill is designed to protect the state's considerable investment in public housing. Massachusetts is interested not only in preserving its housing stock, but also planning for the future of communities. Consequently, the Massachusetts Growth Policy Development Act was passed in 1975. This act requires municipalities to form local growth committees in order to develop a "Statement of Growth Management Programs and Priorities." Massachusetts has also initiated an effort to revitalize central business districts in small towns through a number of assistance means. WISCONSIN In Wisconsin, the state provides a variety of assistance in the areas of demonstration grants, housing finance and technical assistance in both urban and rural areas. A recent initiative is the new Rural Area and Community Development Council. The Council is to coordinate rural and community development programs and evaluate their effectiveness. A related action has been the establishment of a "Pilot Community Development Program" in which State agencies will cooperate to concentrate resources from state, regional planning commissions, and localities to meet priorities determined by the officials and residents in pilot communities. The Pilot Program was begun as a result of a recent Governors' Conference on non-metropolitan community development. The state, in assessing its support for "Community Development," recently compiled an extensive list of over 30 programs that the state is involved in. The total expenditures in these programs is about $90 million, with $43.6 million of this comprised of state funds. This list can be provided for the record. TEXAS Texas has supported Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) programs which area joint venture with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board for the cities of: Fort Worth, Dallas, and San Antonio. In addition, a bill is currently before the legislature to provide state financing and technical assistance in housing rehabilitation. Another measure that Texas is using to combat blight is the Neighborhood Preservation Loan Fund, a revolving loan fund supported by state appropriations. The program requires a local Neighborhood Preservation Plan and incorporates the comprehensive needs of communities. Texas also has a number of other programs which provide both financial and technical assistance to bath urban and rural communities. COLORADO In Colorado a total of $5 million has been appropriated since 1972 by the Colorado General Assembly for housing of low-income persons in towns and cities throughout the State; this Urban and Rural Grant Program is administered by the Division of Housing in the Department of Local Affairs. The Program has been used to establish ninety local projects in which about 2,370 housing units have been rehabilitated or constructed. To date, the State grant investment of $4.7 million has resulted in private and federal cash investments of about $13 million. NEW JERSEY New Jersey has been heavily involved in various housing and community development services for the past ten years. In addition, to substantial contributions of state funds to meet local needs, the state has helped to coordinate the delivery of disparate federal resources to local governments. For example, the state appropriated $4 million for a demonstration Neighborhood Preservation Program in twelve New Jersey cities in cooperation with the Federally funded Urban Reinvestment Task Force. The state also uses a Revolving Housing Development and Demonstration Grant Fund to develop innovative methods of housing production, management, maintenance and rehabilitation to eliminate slums and blight. The many New Jersey programs include a very active Housing Finance Agency that has had a critical role in making the federal Section 8 program work. Another example of New Jersey's commitment is the temporary assignment of state staff to help process the backlog of Farmers Home Administration applications for mortgage assistance; the application proceeds represented $8.8 million worth of low and moderate income loans for rural families. ILLINOIS In Illinois, a variety of state services and funding is provided to support local community development and housing. A major effort is the provision of technical assistance to coordinate the various federal funds available from HUD, the Economic Development Administration, and the Farmers Home Administration. For example, the state has a Downtown Business District program for improving central business districts. Through the Illinois State Housing Board, created in 1933, the state UTAH In Utah, a wide range of services is provided to meet overall community development needs, including: human resources, anti-poverty measures, management planning, technical assistance, intergovernmental personnel management, housing financing and rehabilitation, winterization, and local planning assistance. The state's programs assist local communities in developing water and sewer facilities, rehabilitating housing, acquiring land for lowincome housing projects, constructing community centers, and home winterization. MARYLAND The Department of Economic and Community Development is currently administering seven major state housing related programs: 1) the Maryland Housing Fund which insures loans for reasonably priced single-family housing, the construction and permanent financing of multi-family dwellings and the rehabilitation of housing and related facilities; 2) the Maryland Home Financing Program which provides direct mortgage loans at a preferred rate of interest to citizens of the State who have historically been unable to obtain private financing for the purchase of homes; 3) Housing Development Program which makes low interest loans to local governments, non-profit organizations and limited dividend developers for the construction and/or permanent financing of multi-family for sale and rental housing for moderate and limited income families; 4) Maryland Housing Rehabilitation Program which has an initial reserve of $10 million from the sale of State General Obligations Bonds for redevelopment efforts, 5) Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program from which the department has received a "set-aside" of Section 8 units from HUD to administer on its own, 6) Codes Administration Program which includes Industrialized Buildings and Mobile Homes, Model Performance Code for Building Construction and a Handicapped Code, and 7) Maryland Home Financing Authority which is empowered to issue bonds up to a maximum of $100,000,000 to provide funds for the purchase of existing mortgages held by private lending institutions during periods when private capital for mortgage financing becomes scarce or unavailable. 86-085 77 pt. 23 |