HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-15-2022; 12-2 - Information Item - Longtime Homeowner Assistance Program Prioritization 1
ORANGE COUNTY
ORANGE COUNTY MOUSING DEPARTMENT
NORTH OLI A
TO: Orange County Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Corey Root, Housing Director
RE: Longtime Homeowner Assistance Program Prioritization
DATE: November 15, 2022
BACKGROUND:
In October 2021, the Orange County Board of Commissioners authorized County staff to open
the Longtime Homeowner Assistance Program (LHA) to assist households with property tax
payments. LHA launched on October 8, 2021 to serve households earning no more than 80% of
the area median income who had lived in their homes for at least 10 years and experienced an
increase in Orange County property taxes in 2021. That year the County received 125
applications and awarded $16,364 to 91 households in property tax assistance. A third of these
awards were under $50 and 52% of awards were under $100. Of the 91 approved applicants,
45%were white, 44% were black, 4%were multi-racial, and 1% Asian. 60% of the approved
applications were age 65 or over.
In Spring 2022, the Board approved program design changes to LHA that:
• Decreased the home ownership requirement to 5 years from 10 years; and
• Changed award amounts to cover the full County portion of the tax bill (not just the
change in tax amounts from the previous year) that is in excess of 2% of participant
income
2022 COMMUNITY OUTREACH & APPLICATIONS:
Starting summer of 2022, County staff have worked with staff the Marion Cheek Jackson Center
for Saving and Making History and Justice United to increase outreach and information about
the program, including:
• Mailing LHA program info inside the tax bills mailed to County residents in August 2022
• Including LHA program info in the County newsletter and in the News of Orange County
information page
• Providing program flyers and applications at the Housing offices in Chapel Hill and
Hillsborough; at the Jackson Center; via Justice United at faith-based organizations
• Media coverage by Chapelboro and WHCL
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• Producing two videos (one in English and one in Spanish) about the LHA programith
Justice United and community leaders
• Sending email blasts with program eligibility and application info at 1 month and 2
weeks out of application deadline (December 1)
The County has received 376 applications as of October 31, 2022, all applications are due to the
County by December 1, 2022.
PRIORITIZATION FORMULA:
After the application due date on December 1, 2022, staff will calculate award amounts using
the following guidelines:
• All eligible homeowners will receive a minimum award amount of$100, or up to the full
amount of the County portion of their tax bill if this is less than $100
• Award amounts will be the County portion of the tax bill less 2% of the participant's
household income
• Total award amounts in 2022 for all participants will exceed the available program
funding for 2022 of$250,000
o As of October 21, 2022, total award amounts exceed $322,000
• Staff project that there will be about 745 eligible applications submitted in 2022
o In 2021 there was a shorter application period of 8 weeks and 68% of the
applications were submitted in the last 3 weeks that the application period was
open, and 98% of applications were submitted after November 1. However the
first application was not submitted in 2021 until October 25 because the
program started later.
0 376 current applications multiplied by 1.98 for 98% more applications = 745
applications
• To prioritize award amounts, staff will arrange applicants in priority order
o FIRST: people with higher tax burden (total property tax bill divided by income)
o SECOND: people with longer length of time in their home
o THIRD: Participant age (highest age of any household member)
• Staff will make full awards to as many participants as possible up to $75,000 of the
$250,000 in available funding
• Staff will determine a multiplying factor for the remaining $175,000 of the $250,000 in
available funding and use this to reduce all other awards by the same percentage
o Staff will subtract available funding from the maximum award amount, and
divide the difference by the maximum award amount, this is the percentage
difference between amounts needed and what is available
o Staff will reduce all award amounts by the same percentage, ensuring that
eligible homeowners will receive a minimum award amount of$100, or up to the
full amount of the County portion of their tax bill if this is less than $100
NEXT STEPS:
Staff plan to give Board members an evaluation of the 2022 Longtime Homeowner Assistance
program in Spring 2023 alongside recommendations for the Board to consider for a potential
2023 LHA property tax assistance program.