Housing agency asks Mooresville for $90,000 because of cash flow problems.
MOORESVILLE A local nonprofit housing agency is asking the town for $90,000 to get through cash-flow problems stemming from what it says is an inability to sell its affordable homes in the poor economy.
Mooresville commissioners Chris Carney and Miles Atkins said they'd have trouble giving the Community Housing Development Corp. of Mooresville/South Iredell any taxpayer money.
Carney said the town loaned the agency about $35,000 last year and has set aside land for its homes in the past, but it doesn't fund the agency in its budget, "and I don't see it (happening) now," Carney said.
Carney said he prefers the agency partner with Habitat for Humanity or private builders on a permanent solution to its problems. Giving the agency any money would merely be a Band-Aid to its challenges, he said.
Atkins said he's encouraging the organization's leadership to attend meetings of an affordable housing task force he helped form recently and perhaps form partnerships with such agencies as Mooresville/Lake Norman Christian Mission to find more potential homebuyers.
The task force will determine everything from how many residents need affordable housing to where more housing could be built, he said.
"It's having all the players at the table working collectively on a plan," Atkins said.
The need for more housing appears to be great, Atkins said. Even some town of Mooresville employees would qualify for affordable housing, he said. "There's a big need in Mooresville," Atkins said in an interview.
Community Housing Development Corp. is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1997 to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, according to its website.
The agency opened the eight-home Cascade Estates and six-home Cascade Mills subdivisions. Both single-family home developments are fully occupied, and all of the homeowners received federal financial help with down payments and closing costs, according to the agency.
Homes listed for sale on the agency's website range from $117,900 to $127,900.
The organization also is developing the Burke Dale subdivision and is building single-family homes on scattered lots elsewhere in town. The agency also hosts homeowner education classes.
In an Aug. 19 letter to Mooresville Town Manager Erskine Smith, Grace Accursio, president of the agency's board of directors, said: "As evident in the enclosed financial statements, the organization is exceptionally strong regarding owned assets; however, revenue income flow has been challenging due primarily to current economic conditions. As with all segments of the residential construction industry, new home sales for (the agency) have declined dramatically."
The agency "has never faced financial challenges to maintain its cash flow under these conditions in its (14)-year history," Accursio wrote.
The agency had factored the sale of two of its homes on Sharpe Street into its operating budget, but the sales hadn't been completed by the time of her letter, she wrote. The agency also learned that a grant it applied for to Wachovia Bank wouldn't be available until December, she said in her letter.
The agency received a $20,000 quarterly grant for operating expenses from the N.C. Community Development Initiative in July, and much of that money has already been spent on monthly program and operating expenses, which average $15,000, she wrote.
At their Sept. 2 pre-agenda meeting, where the Mooresville commissioners discuss items they will consider voting on at their regular monthly meeting, the board tabled the agency's request to an as-yet unscheduled date to look into the matter more.
Copyright 2011 jmarusak@charlotteobserver.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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