Northwest Montana News

Commissioners to Consider Establishing Housing Innovation Fund

The Missoula County commissioners will consider adopting a resolution this week that would establish a Housing Innovation Fund to help supportprojectsand programs that addresshousing affordability in the county. 

The commissioners will take up the resolution at theirpublic meeting on Thursday, Feb. 2. The meeting will take place at 2 p.m. in the Sophie Moiese Room of the Missoula County Courthouseand virtually via Microsoft Teams. The agenda and information on how to join the meeting virtually areonline at missoula.co/bccmeetings. 

The Housing Innovation Fund would prioritize support for public and private programs that benefit individuals or families making up to200% of the Area Median Income,with a specific focus on housing for residentsoutside city limits who are increasinglyleft out of the market but who earn too much to qualify for existing programs.According to 2022 dataprovided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 200% of the AMIin Missoula Countyisapproximately$160,400 for a household of four.

 “This is an exciting move forwardin addressing the No. 1 issue we hearaboutfrom county residents –housing affordability,” said commission Chair Josh Slotnick. “Ten years ago, a majority of folks here could afford an average home in our community, but with prices continuing to climb, that’s just not the case anymore. This fund will support programs to bridge that gap, and creation of thisfund is the first step.”

Examples of initiativesthe fund couldsupportinclude housing development, acquisition, down payment assistance programsand infrastructure support. The fund will initially focus on initiatives to support people on the consumer side of the housing equation, and over time could grow to facilitate infrastructure and development. The County will put $750,000generated from sales oflots in the Missoula Development Parkinto the fund initiallyand will pursue options to leverage outside sources togrow it.

Establishing the fund is the first major step in implementing the County’s Housing Action Plan: Breaking Ground, which recommendsactions intended to improve the supply of housing unitsin the county.These recommendationsfall under three broad goals: 

•Use the County’s toolkit–including zoning, infrastructure and use of County lands–to increase the housing supply

•Provide more funding for programs to help people access and stay in stable housing

•Partner with the City, housing nonprofits and developers to improve policy  

“Creating the Housing Innovation Fund is a big stepbecause it will providean overarching structure to support the County’s current and future housing initiatives and priorities,” said Garrick Harmel, Missoula County’shousing specialist. “It’s also designed to incentivize more attainable housing throughout the countyand will help move the needle in addressing the housing crisis.

”Pending approval, opportunities for funding for outside organizationswill likely be available later this year. Thefund is intended to encourage financial partnerships, not serve as a sole source of funding for any one project.

For more information, contactHarmelat 406-258-3444 or gharmel@missoulacounty.us.

Original source can be found here.