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In October
of 1999, the US Congress established the bipartisan Millennial Housing
Commission. Milroy Alexander, Executive Director of the Colorado
Housing and Finance Authority, was appointed to the Commission and
will open the SDHDA Annual Housing Conference at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
November 19, 2002, with his overview on the thoughts of the Commission
and its final Report.
The Commission was asked to analyze the importance of housing to
the basic infrastructure of communities; to examine methods of increasing
the role of the private sector in the provision of affordable housing
including analyzing the efficiency and effectiveness of such a move;
and to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of existing HUD
programs and their impact on working families, neighborhoods, communities,
and how they can be improved.
The Commission charged itself with identifying how to produce and
preserve more sustainable, affordable housing in healthy communities
to help families progress up the ladder of economic opportunity.
The report, which was released on May 30, 2002, noted that household
wealth contributes to one-third of the nation's tangible assets
and accounted for 4% of GDP in 2000. They noted the importance
of affordable housing in support of Congress' Welfare-to-Work initiative
and the socioeconomic benefits of community revitalization and stabilization.
Recommendations that resonate in South Dakota include: 1)
decisions about the location and management of housing are best
made at the local level; 2) proper incentives must be made available
to the private sector to ensure involvement in affordable housing;
and 3) segregation of the lowest income families and individuals
does not work.
The housing block grant program authorized in 1992, HOME Investment
Partnership Program, has provided $32.5 million in gap financing
for 1,900 affordable rental and homeownership units in South Dakota.
The Commission supports a higher level of federal funding for HOME
which supports local decisions regarding affordable housing projects.
SDHDA's mission statement supports the prudent investment of public
financing and private capital, and the statute creating the Authority
encourages private enterprise initiatives in support of affordable
housing. SDHDA works with 59 private lenders in over 200 South
Dakota communities to deliver its low-interest First-time Homebuyer
mortgage loans, down payment and closing cost loans, and home improvement
loans. The vast majority of the more than 400 affordable housing
developments overseen by SDHDA are privately owned with the remaining
units owned by local nonprofit organizations and the local housing
authorities.
For the past few years, SDHDA's Consolidated Plan has given preference
for mixed-income housing units while prioritizing preservation over
production.
Congress created the Millennial Housing Commission; the Commission
has spoken; it's now up to the new Congress of 2003 to take action.
For more information on the Millennial Housing Commission or to
download a complete copy of the report, visit www.mhc.gov.
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