Agenda - Council Work Session - 04/28/2020

Home

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES o Live Where You Work - Program designed to promote homeownership in the same community where employees work. City provides a grant to eligible employees to pur- chase a home near their workplace. Employers can also contribute or match the city's contribution. Participants must obtain a first mortgage through participating lenders. The grant can be allocated towards down payment assistance, closing costs, and gap fi- nancing. Some restrictions apply (i.e. length of employment, income, home buyer edu- cation, etc.) o Realtor Forum - Typically administered by City with partnership by local school board. Inform local Realtors about school district news, current development projects, and other marketing factors related to real estate in the community. In addition, Realtors usually receive CE credits. o Remodeling Tours - City -driven home remodeling tour intended to promote the en- hancement of the housing stock through home renovations/additions. Homeowners open their homes to the public to showcase home improvements. o Rent to Own - Income -eligible families rent for a specified length of time with the end - goal of buying a home. The HRA saves a portion of the monthly rent that will be allo- cated for a down payment on a future house. o Shallow Rent Subsidy: The HRA funds a shallow rent subsidy program to provide pro- gram participants living in market rate rentals a rent subsidy (typically about $100 to $300 per month). o Tax Increment Financing (TIF): Program that offers communities a flexible financing tool to assist housing projects and related infrastructure. TIF enables communities to dedi- cate the incremental tax revenues from new housing development to help make the housing more affordable or pay for related costs. TIF funds can be used to provide a di- rect subsidy to a particular housing project or they can also be used to promote afforda- ble housing by setting aside a portion of TIF proceeds into a dedicated fund from other developments receiving TIF. o Transfer of Development Rights —Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) is a program that shifts the development potential of one site to another site or different location, even a different community. TDR programs allow landowners to sever development rights from properties in government -designated low -density areas and sell them to purchasers who want to increase the density of development in areas that local govern- ments have selected as higher density areas. o Waiver or Reduction of Development Fees —There are several fees developers must pay including impact fees, utility and connection fees, park land dedication fees, etc. To help facilitate affordable housing, some fees could be waived or reduced to pass the cost savings onto the housing consumer. • Job Growth/Employment/Outflow. Historically, low unemployment rates have driven both existing home purchases and new -home purchases. Lack of job growth leads to slow or di- minishing household growth, which in -turn relates to reduced housing demand. Like most areas across the Twin Cities and Minnesota, the unemployment rate in Ramsey peaked in 2009 during the Great Recession at 7.9%. However, over the past nine years the unemploy- ment rate has decreased annually and is presently at only 2.6% in Ramsey through 2018. MAXFIELD RESEARCH AND CONSULTING 154