Gourlay reports on
IHFA rules on obtaining funds
for housing
By GREG
STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Applying to
the Idaho Housing and Finance Association to help pay for affordable
housing is a lot like playing Dungeons and Dragons, according to Ketchum
City Councilman Baird Gourlay.
"You
don’t play the first time and win," he said.
Gourlay and
Housing Director Gates Kellett attended a housing and finance association
meeting May 13 and discovered several areas where Ketchum and the Blaine
County Housing Authority went awry with an application for housing tax
credits and low-interest loans for a proposed town center affordable
housing project. The housing authority’s application was denied late
last month.
But the
trip was encouraging, Gourlay said.
"In
unspoken words, they wanted to have something up here that is in the
limelight, something nice they can show off," he said. "They
were very encouraging. They were trying to help us the whole time. You
could tell they definitely wanted us to come back and apply again.
"I was
very enthusiastic after meeting with them."
On the
positive side, Gourlay said Ketchum and the housing authority’s
application ranked second on a points scale in which 259 was the winning
application. The town center proposal scored around 250, and the lowest
scoring application came in at 204, he said.
Additionally,
the town center qualified for $2.1 million in federal tax credits, which
comprised the lion’s share of the budget needed to build the project.
But problems with a requested gap loan and low-interest home loan
undermined the entire proposal.
The biggest
problem, Gourlay said, was with the housing and finance association gap
loan, which has an unspoken limit of between $7,000 and $8,000 per unit.
The city
had asked for $500,000, which boiled down to about $25,000 per unit.
"That
gap was considerable," Gourlay said, adding that the association
prefers to spread the gap loan around the state, and Balmoral in Hailey
was a recent recipient.
Additionally,
a $500,000 low-interest home loan depended partially on the number of
units conforming to Housing and Urban Development standards.
"We
needed eight HUD units to get over $500,000, which we could have done if
we knew it," Gourlay said. "We only had three HUD units in
there."
In general,
HUD has different and more restrictive income and housing requirements.
Finally,
Gourlay said the project lost ground because the proposed first floor
commercial space was not leased, which prompted assignment of a 20 percent
vacancy rate.
"If we
had gotten a lease, we would have had a 5 percent vacancy rate, which
would have covered that shortfall" in the proposed mortgage.
Finally,
Gourlay said it "absolutely" helped to discuss with the housing
and finance association members the problems Ketchum faces regarding
affordable housing. He said he and Kellett explained that lack of housing
contributes to Highway 75 congestion and loss of community in Ketchum.