What are Housing Trust Funds?
Housing trust funds are permanent, dedicated sources of revenue invested
locally in the creation and preservation of affordable housing. In general,
housing trust funds are:
- Locally controlled
- Meet variety of housing needs
- Permanent commitment to affordable housing
Learn about the more than 600 housing trust funds across the country at the
Center for
Community Change website.
History of the Albany County Housing Trust Fund
In 2006, a coalition of community organizations and local leaders, lead by
the Albany Community Land Trust,
Capital District Community Loan Fund and the
Affordable Housing Partnership began
exploring ways of creating a housing trust fund in Albany County. This group
became the HTF Task Force and continues to guide the
project.
Later that year,
County Executive Michael Breslin
earmarked $300,000 in proceeds from the County tax foreclosure auction to seed a
local housing trust fund. The County Legislature unanimously approved the budget
measure in December of 2006.
HTF Task Force committees developed a governance
structure for the Trust Fund, adopted funding priorities, and developed an
application format. The County Executive announced a first Notice of Funding
Availability (NOFA) in May of 2007.
An independent Screening Committee appointed by the HTF
Task Force reviewed the ten application received and made
recommendations to the
Office of the County Executive. Funding recommendations were
approved by the
County Legislature in September 2007.
In October 2007,
County Executive Michael Breslin demonstrated his continued commitment to
the Housing Trust Fund by recommending a 2008 budget appropriation of $324,000.
The HTF Task Force continues to explore means of
permanently funding the housing trust fund with a dedicated source of revenue.
Learn how you can get involved!
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