Mississippi Long Term Workforce Housing Program
September 3, 2009
The Mississippi Development Authority’s Long Term Workforce Housing Program has been established to help create affordable workforce housing largely for the counties of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson that were adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The program is part of the Homeowner Assistance Grant Program, and its budget is $241 million, or $350 million when administrative cost is taken into consideration. The program works to help individuals with low or moderate income, destroy or prevent slums or blight, and assist communities with a need for fast help due to an immediate threat to the well being of the residents living there.
The action plan of the program outlines its most prominent goals and the methods that will be employed to reach them. It defines Long Term Workforce Housing as housing that helps households who make 120% of the Area Median Income or less.
Nearly 9,000 families as of 2008 were still living in trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after being displaced by hurricane Katrina, three years after it occurred. Most of these people currently had incomes below the 120% mark of the Area Median Income. One of the main goals of the Long Term Workforce Housing Program was to help these people find permanent housing.
In order to decide which individuals, businesses, and charities should receive assistance, the Development Authority created a point system based on several factors.
One criteria is practicality of whether the amount requested was reasonable for the good done. Bonuses were the ability of the individuals or organization to receive additional financing from other sources or provide some of the funding.
Other criterion was based on the plans, environmental friendliness, varied incomes of individuals helped by the proposed project, and the location of the project. For example, it is favorable to be close to such amenities as downtown districts, employment centers, schools, public transportation, hospitals, fire stations, and police stations, and unfavorable to be near power plants and heavy industrial areas.
Applicants should also focus on the need for the project, the efficiency of the proposed schedule, the experience of the workers (including resumes for all team members), and the support of the community.
The program also works to ensure that a fair number of the contracts go to minority and woman’s businesses.
Small Rental Assistance Program SRAP 2nd Round Classes
October 8, 2008
The MDA (Mississippi Development Authority) will be starting a string of classes for investors who are looking to apply for the 2nd round of the Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP).
The first of the 16 classes will take place Monday, October 13th in Biloxi, MS and will continue on through October 30th at locations in Gulfport, Saucier, Biloxi, Long Beach, Gautier, Picayune, Bay St Louis and Pascagoula. Every class will be managed by MDA staff who can properly explain to investors if the SRAP program will be a good fit for them.
Jon Mabry (Chief Operations Officer for the Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division) has said they have worked on making the second round of the SRAP much easier for people to comprehend. He also said they will put a special emphasis on the applications that are actually helping to rebuild housing in the places that were the hardest hit by Katrina.
In order to be accepted the applicant’s property must be in one of the following counties; Harrison, Jackson, Hancock and Pearl River.
The program will provide 5 year forgivable loans up to $40k per unit, and there will be rules that the applicant must abide by for the term of the loan.
The form to apply for the Small Rental Assistance Program will be on the MDA’s site on October 15th.
The MDA Small Rental Assistance Program Pushes Through 1st Round
July 4, 2008
Finally! The first round of the Mississippi Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP) apps were due in last November, and after 7 months of back and forth from all the government entities involved, the first checks have started to get disbursed. Read more
Who should you believe about the Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP) ?
May 21, 2008
I like to stay abreast of any breaking news stories related to the GO Zone, and while doing my daily research today I read an article in a local Mississippi paper titled Bayside Bubble by J.R. Welsh.
I was a little surprised when I read article, because there were some facts that were incorrect and could mislead anyone who hasn’t spent the time that I have researching the Mississippi Small Rental Assistance Program and the 50% GO Zone Bonus Depreciation. Read more
MDA: Progress being made on post-Katrina housing crisis
February 1, 2008
By MICHAEL NEWSOM
SUN HERALD
JACKSON — Representatives of the Mississippi Development Authority told lawmakers Thursday that despite the bureaucratic federal regulations, the state is poised to make significant progress on the post-Katrina housing crisis soon. Read more
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