Northwest Indiana could work with the Fort Wayne Housing Authority on an affordable housing program.
The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission’s Economy and Place Committee voted Wednesday in support of the Hoosier Homes Homebuyer Assistance Program administered by the Fort Wayne agency.
The program seeks to expand the availability of safe and affordable housing options to qualified borrowers.
The housing authority works to provide competitive mortgage loans through three federal agencies – Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – by offering down payment and closing cost assistance toward the purchase of both new and existing homes.
The NIRPC committee’s support will send the resolution to the full commission.
Heather Presley-Cowen, who has been working with Valparaiso Community Housing Partners, said Gary launched a similar program several years ago. She suggests expanding it to include the entire region.
When that kind of program is limited to a single city, it’s extra work for bankers trying to arrange home loans because they have to verify whether an address is actually within the city limits, she said.
Union Township Trustee George Topoll, who chairs the NIRPC committee, noted that expansion of housing choice is a goal in NIRPC’s regional plan.
What he likes about expanding the Fort Wayne program to Northwest Indiana is that it won’t cost NIRPC anything while still addressing a need in the region.
Presley-Cowen has been working with the new Valparaiso group to address the “missing middle” – homes for people in the workforce with a household income up to 140% of the median. For Valparaiso, that’s about $140,000, she said.
Cook County, Illinois, has a program similar to the Fort Wayne one. Within 30 days from launch, over 2,000 homebuyers used the Cook County platform, she said.
“I have vetted this program so well for the past two years now,” Valparaiso Councilman Robert Cotton said. He wants a “seamless, easy-peasy” application process. NIRPC’s involvement would include promoting the program to make sure people are aware of the assistance available to them.
Communities and others could chip in toward a down payment assistance fund if they wished to do so. Employers could contribute, too, to help make sure their workers have adequate housing nearby, Presley-Cowen said. Terre Haute contributed $500,000 toward it, she said.
“We’re not trying to give anything away. You have to qualify for a mortgage,” Cotton said.
The program involves a second lien on the home that dissolves after seven years. The payment on the lien is pro-rated in case the homeowner sells before the seven years is up.
NIRPC Transportation Director Tom Vander Woude said the agreement with the Fort Wayne agency would mean NIRPC wouldn’t have an administrative role.
NIRPC could get quarterly reports to see how the rollout is going, Presley-Cowen said.
In other business, Director of Environmental Programs Kathy Luther briefed the committee on a comprehensive climate action plan serving the entire Chicago area, including Northwest Indiana. NIRPC is working with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning on the plan, which is due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Dec.1.
The plan seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Luther’s presentation focused on buildings, which accounted for 35% of emissions in the 2020 greenhouse gas inventory.
Across the region, the plan seeks to reduce overall emissions by 85% by 2050. Between 2005 and 2020, emissions were already down 20%, but another 65% is needed.
“This plan is not in any way legally binding. I think at this point it’s pretty aspirational,” she said.
Key to achieving the reduction for buildings would be to weatherize existing buildings, increase the use of electric heat pumps for space and water heating and induction stoves for commercial use, all of which means reducing reliance on natural gas.
Following current policies as they stand today, emissions are on track to be reduced 36% by 2050, Luther said. With state and local initiatives, that reduction could increase to 61%.
For buildings, the plan seeks to reduce residential emissions by 26% and commercial by 12%. Further reduction would come from cleaner ways to generate electricity.
Setting building performance standards is one way to address the issue. “That’s been adopted in Colorado with a lot of success,” Luther said. In addition, Oak Park, Illinois, requires new homes to be all-electric.
Unlike Illinois, Indiana doesn’t allow local governments to set their own building standards. However, local redevelopment commissions could encourage businesses to improve energy efficiency through a program that would function much like façade improvement grants, Luther said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.