Plans underway for Floyd County housing rehab program

By Mary Pieper, Special to the Charles City Press

The Floyd County Housing Trust Fund’s Furnace Replacement Program is ending, but discussion is underway for a housing rehabilitation program to replace it.

The new program wouldn’t help as many people as the furnace replacement program, which is providing 50 homeowners who met certain income guidelines with free or reduced-price furnaces this year, according to Tim Fox, director of the Charles City Area Economic Development Corporation.

However, those receiving assistance from the proposed housing rehab program would be eligible for home upgrades such as siding, roofing and new windows in addition to furnace replacement, he said.

The income guidelines for the housing rehab funds also wouldn’t be as strict as the ones for furnace replacement, according to Fox.

Floyd County residents could only earn up to 30 percent of the median income for the area to quality for free furnace replacement. Those earning 31 to 50 percent of the median income were eligible to have 75 percent of the furnace replacement cost paid for.

However, those earning up to 80 percent of the median income would qualify for housing rehabilitation funds, Fox said.

The Floyd County Housing Trust Fund hasn’t taken action yet on the proposal.

Fox said cities probably would submit requests for funding for specific neighborhoods where housing rehabilitation is particularly needed.

All cities in the county would be eligible, he said, but the Housing Trust Fund probably would only focus on one neighborhood in one city each year.

“We are probably looking at four houses at $25,000 apiece,” Fox said. However, he noted that’s just an estimate as the exact amount of funding for the program would depend on the state Legislature.

If the Housing Trust Fund Board approves the new program, cities could begin applying for consideration.

Once a city and neighborhood are chosen, homeowners in the designated area could begin applying for housing rehab funds for the 2021 construction season, according to Fox.

The Furnace Replacement Program was announced in 2015. Contractors began installing new furnaces in recipients’ homes in 2016.

The Floyd County Housing Trust received a grant from USDA Rural Development for the program. The Iowa Finance Authority funded the rest.

For many years Floyd County had a standalone Housing Trust Fund. However, several years ago it merged with the North Iowa Area Council of Governments (NIACOG) Housing Trust Fund.

“The purpose of the merger was to increase the allocation from the state, which provides more funding to regional programs,” said Myrtle Nelson, senior planner for NIACOG.

Fox said the IFA has wanted the Floyd County Housing Trust to switch its mission to housing rehabilitation ever since the merger with NIACOG, “but we got a housing preservation grant from the USDA, so they let us continue doing furnaces for another year.”

There is a great need for housing rehab in Charles City because 75 percent of the homes in the community were built before 1960, he said.

Under the new program, the Floyd County Housing Trust would apply for housing rehabilitation funds from NIACOG, which would apply to the IFA for funds on behalf of both Floyd County and the portion of Cerro Gordo County located outside Mason City, according to Fox.

He said Mason City would not be included because it receives block grant funding from another program for housing rehab.

The housing rehab funds from IFA would be divided between Cerro Gordo and Floyd County based on population.

Fox said once Mason City is taken out of consideration, Floyd and Cerro Gordo counties have a similar population. This means the housing rehab funds from the IFA would be split fairly evenly between the two counties.

NIACOG would be the financial clearinghouse, “which saves us an awful lot of paperwork,” Fox said.