Housing GSO: HRA Greensboro Affordable Housing Plan

IMPLEMENTATION

IDENTIFY VARIOUS FUNDING SOURCES TOTALING $50 MILLION

To make meaningful progress toward Greensboro’s affordable housing goals, the City should work to identify an additional $50M in public and other funding sources over the next ten years. The City should begin implementation of recommended tools in Housing GSO using its existing budget. However, the City will need access to additional funding, beyond existing local, state and federal allocations, to fully address need and implement all of the new programs outlined in Housing GSO. Dedicating additional sources of local funding and identifying additional sources of support, including contributions from private and philanthropic funders, will help ensure the City has expanded access to the resources it needs to successfully implement and manage all of the recommended programs and policies of Housing GSO. Committing local resources to address affordable housing need, in concert with identification of other funding sources to support public contributions, will demonstrate the City’s ongoing commitment to addressing existing challenges and help secure investments from public and private partners. This dedicated source of local funding can build on existing sources, or stem from the creation of a new bond, fund or set-aside. The City’s existing Nussbaum Fund is already dedicated to supporting affordable housing and presents one option for meeting the need for additional dedicated funding. The City may also choose to create a separate fund. Any commitment of additional public funds should be leveraged with corresponding commitments from philanthropic and private sector community leaders. The City cannot act alone to meet existing affordable housing need – it will need to go beyond existing federal, state, and local sources of support. To fully implement the recommendations of Housing GSO, the City should identify $50 million in new local public subsidy and other funding sources for affordable housing over the next ten years.

Key Partners • City of Greensboro – NDD, City Manager’s Office, Financial Services • Philanthropic partners

Action Steps

1. Present budget request to City Council

2. Establish and secure annual source of local funds

HR&A Advisors, Inc.

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