Governor’s Workshops for Local Leaders

Community Development (CDBG, weatherization funding etc)
- Frank Coakley, DHCD Assistant Secretar

March  4, 2009

Mr. Patoka:  The next speaker is another familiar face to Baltimore, it's Assistant Secretary Frank Coakley of the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Mr. Coakley:   Don't panic, I'm not going to read all this.  And the folks where I work put it in big type for me as well. 

I'm at the Department of Housing -- and Malcolm doesn't get the chance to see me because I'm stuck in the back and they have other folks that come out and do all the good stuff and put this together.  So it's really a treat for me to come out tonight and be with you and thank you.  It's good seeing you, Councilman. 

The American community -- the American Recovery Act is the stimulus bill, as I still call it and everyone tells me I'm in trouble when I say that, has given the Department an awful lot of money, I mean, new, creative ways to do things.  Weatherization is improving. 

But let me just run through -- you gave me four minutes, you gave everyone else ten, he gives me four, but we're old friends.

Home money.  Home money is going to be used, especially for you developers in the audience, as a substitution, if you would -- I'm not using the best words -- but a substitution for low income housing tax credits.  That is, the raise up on your tax credits went from maybe 90 cents when you were doing deals and we're down around 72, I think is what was in the QAP, so  some deals are looking at around 60 cents.

So to try to fill that gap, home money -- which has a new name that I can't remember -- the home money will be used to fill those gaps without all the home restrictions.  That's the big deal, without the home restrictions. 

The new rules, we don't know them yet.  They were supposed to come out probably today, maybe towards the end of the week, if we're lucky.   But we're waiting to hear what the new HUD regulations will be.  So a lot of the questions that you'll ask me, I'm going to say I don't know because the rules aren't out.  No, I'm just kidding.

The money will -- 75 percent of the new home money will have to be spent by February of 2010.  Pat Sylvester told me I had to tell you that.  February 2010.  With the balance having to be spent by February of 2011. 

So it goes right back to what they were saying about shovel-ready and the deals that we can possibly get off the ground. 

Lots of my friends are out here and I know you have deals and that you're looking to us right now, they're in the round and those deals should be announced sometime in the next two weeks.  So that should move you right along. 

Weatherization, as we mentioned, went from about a $2 million a year project to $63 million that we'll have to spend in the next two years.  That's quite a ramp-up.  That's going to include equipment and trucks, so if your brother-in-law or someone is in the truck business, now is the time to tell him he should be calling either me or Malcolm to talk about trucks being fitted up and things like that.  It's a very serious business.  We think in Baltimore alone we should be handling almost 1,400 houses, single family housing, in the Baltimore area.  I think about 5,000 throughout the entire State.

Highlights of this, the project information should be out this week.  We're doing everything in conjunction with the Department of Energy.  The approvals that -- for applications that you give to us now, it's about $63.2 million, with about $11 million, almost $12 million, will be used for equipment, trucks and things like that, that I was talking about.  So this is going to be a serious ramp-up from $2 million to $63 million a year.

The -- currently we're looking at eligible recipients of this money would be about  175 to 200 percent of the poverty level and I think that means for a family of four around thirty-eight-five -- you know those numbers better than me -- for up to about $44,100.

Community Block Grant.  The Community Block Grant money will come out through agencies as you know, the limited agencies that participate in Maryland about 200,000 Marylanders should be able to receive the additional funding. 

It's kind of technical and I'd be happy to answer questions, and stay within your guidelines.

Another funding source will be emergency shelter grants.  They will receive about $55 million additional that will have to be spent over the next two years.  The good news here is renters will be able to access this money via their local housing agency.  So it will be an additional pot of money, if you would, to help keep people in affordable rentals. 

And I should mention people that are struggling where their landlords are losing their properties through foreclosure should be looking at our website, the Maryland Housing website, with the apartment locator. We list all the apartments that we fund -- apartment projects that we fund and others that we deem qualified, so people can go to that website and find good places, good, safe, sound places to live. 

Community Block Grants.  An additional $2.15 million will go to community block grants.  Applications for the new projects should be in place -- I believe I have this right
 -- by April 1st of this year.  All applications -- I'm sorry, are due on the 29th of May.  Recommendations should come from the Secretary sometime around the first week/second week of July.   I know for a lot of communities, the Community Block Grants are really important.  And the original first stabilization, national stabilization program, was funded and that was about $26.7 million for the State.   

So did I stay within --

Mr. Patoka:  You were perfect. 

Mr. Coakley:  So I'm okay.  Thank you.   (Applause.)

Mr. Patoka:  Thanks, Frank. 

 

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