In August, Delaware’s Council on Housing continued what I would describe as a very analytical process gathering information. I believe this process is very important because boards/councils should be informed about the work they are overseeing and participating in. I hope this process has been very informative to all the members. As a result, the proposed minutes (attached below) include summaries of the Housing Development Fund (HDF) activities presented by the Delaware State Housing Authority’s Jerry Jones. The summary included new applications, like those from NCALL, Homeless Planning Council and Hope House I as well as HDF cash flow details. Council continued to grapple with the balance of ear-marking funds to make sure certain needs are addressed against not ear-marking funds to allow flexibility.
For Financial Year 2010, the HDF base fund was maintained at $4.07m, the Preservation funds were funded at $2.5m and the Delaware Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (DEMAP) was funded with $250,000.
The Council is also working through some structural and procedural processes. For example, the proposed minutes were not approved at the September meeting because the Council expressed a preference for them to be in more of a summary format.
The Loan Review Committee continues to be delegated more responsibility with regard to HDF funding requests to save time at the full Council meetings to address other issues.
