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NACEDA Policy Paper:

Rural Community Development - April 2009

Background

Rural Housing and Community Development programs housed within the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Housing and Community Development (HUD) are critical to NACEDA members working in rural low-income communities. NACEDA teamed with other advocates and a bipartisan coalition in Congress to oppose efforts to substantially reduce funding and/or eliminate these programs in FY 2009. Adequate funding in FY 2010 is especially important for rural community development organizations on the front lines of the economic crisis.

Funding Initiatives:

Section 515 Rental Direct Housing: NACEDA recommends $150 million in FY 2010; the program received $69.6 million in FY 2009. $150 million will finance minimal production of new rental housing and provide incentives to property owners to stay in the program. NACEDA encourages continued support for preservation initiatives including USDA's preservation demonstration program, its preservation revolving loan fund, and vouchers to protect tenants against rent increases.

Section 502 Single Family Direct Loan Programs: NACEDA supports at least $1.2 billion for the program in FY 2010; the program received $1.1 billion in FY 2009. NACEDA will continue working with partners to make sure the program serves low-income rural Americans.

Section 523 Self-Help Technical Assistance (TA) Program: NACEDA supports at least $60 million for Section 523 in FY 2010, the amount needed to renew grants for all performing organizations with expiring current funding and to meet unprecedented challenges in rural communities. The program received $38.7 million in FY 2009. Section 504 Very Low Income Repair Program: NACEDA supports least $35 In FY 2010; the program received $30 million in FY 2000.

Section 521 Rental Assistance: We support full funding to renew all expiring Rental Assistance contracts for low-income tenants in USDA-financed rental housing. The program received $902 million in FY 2009; NACEDA recommends at least $1 billion in FY 2010 to meet unprecedented needs for affordable rental housing in rural communities. Rural Utilities, Business and Community Facility Programs: NACEDA supports robust funding for rural infrastructure and community facility programs, which are essential tools for rural community developers. NACEDA will work with partners to provide detailed funding level recommendations upon receiving additional budget information.

New Legislative Initiatives

Rural Rental Preservation: NACEDA supports the Rural Housing Preservation Act, H.R. 4002 (in 110th Congress), and the Section 515 Rural Housing Property Transfer Improvement Act, (H.R. 3873 in 110th Congress). NACEDA encourages Congress to pass rural rental housing preservation legislation in the 111th Congress to provide enhanced and additional tools and incentives to protect preserve 515 properties for low-income tenants. Additionally, through the appropriations process, we also support full funding for the preservation programs such as the rural preservation demonstration program and the rural preservation revolving loan fund.

HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development Program (RHED): NACEDA supports authorization of HUD's Rural Housing and Economic Development (RHED) program through H.R. 1982 (in 110th Congress), introduced by Rep. Rubén Hinojosa. RHED is an important resource for rural affordable housing organizations, providing scarce federal capacity building and project funding directly to organizations serving small rural communities. Congress has funded the program every year since FY 1999, providing $26 million in FY 2009.

New Markets Tax Credits: NACEDA supports efforts to reauthorize the New Markets Tax Credit program while making changes to make the program more accessible for rural census tracts and rural projects, which are often smaller in scale, but critical to rural communities.

For more information go to: http://www.nlihc.org/doc/FAQ-NHTF.pdf

For additional information, please contact Jane DeMarines at jdemarines@naceda.org or (703)741-0144. Website: http://www.naceda.org