PROVIDENCE, RI – Governor Dan McKee, Department of Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor and RIHousing announced the launch of the $4 million Municipal Technical Assistance Program (MTAP). From updating land use and permitting requirements to infrastructure evaluations, Rhode Island cities and towns can apply to receive technical assistance from a pool of consultants to support local affordable housing production.
"We are implementing a comprehensive strategy to tackle the housing crisis facing Rhode Island," said Governor McKee. "Our strategy includes everything from historic investments in preserving and producing more housing, helping Rhode Islanders attain homeownership, creating more permanent affordable housing, expanding the emergency shelter system and with this program – breaking down barriers at the municipal level to spark housing development."
Rhode Island is facing a critical shortage of housing as a result of decades of underproduction of rental housing as well as homeownership opportunities. This has resulted in rapidly increasing housing costs and an extremely low inventory of available homes and apartments, putting safe and affordable housing out of reach for too many Rhode Islanders.
The Governor proposed and the General Assembly approved creating the Housing Production Fund to help address this problem. $4 million from the Housing Production Fund has been allocated for the Municipal Technical Assistance Program. The MTAP is administered by RIHousing according to guidelines approved by the Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission's Coordinating Committee and in collaboration with the Department of Housing.
"We routinely hear from municipal leaders that their ability to prepare for, consider, and advance housing development proposals is limited by their access to technical expertise and administrative capacity," said Secretary of Housing Stefan Pryor. "The municipal technical assistance program is an important complement to new and emerging state investment programs, helping more cities and towns move forward with housing developments that make sense for their communities."
Once pre-approved, municipalities will be able to work with consultants contracted by RIHousing on eligible activities in their communities including: identifying where affordable housing could be built in the community, updating zoning and land use requirements to remove barriers to housing development, increase density and promote a mixture of housing types, and evaluating the capacity of a municipality's infrastructure.
"This program will help our cities and towns address obstacles to development and allow them to build much needed affordable housing," said Carol Ventura, Executive Director of RIHousing. "We look forward to working with municipalities to address their specific needs and to connect them to expert technical assistance that will help their communities, and the state, create more affordable housing."
"Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns extend their thanks to Governor McKee for responding to requests for direct support by establishing the technical assistance program, which will be a great resource for municipalities as we work together to advance our housing goals," said Ernie Almonte, Executive Director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns. "We look forward to continuing our work with the Governor, General Assembly and Department of Housing to remove barriers and support housing production in local communities across the state. The League is enthusiastic about strengthening our partnership and the resources being provided to our municipal leaders."
The applicant must be an incorporated Rhode Island city or town and must have support from key municipal authorities such as the Mayor, Town Administrator or Town Council Chair as appropriate. The proposal must fall within the categories of eligible activities. Cost per project may not exceed program caps: $100,000 for individual municipalities or the lower of $100,000 per community up to $500,000 in total consultant services for communities applying in partnership. The proposed timeline for completing the scope of work may not exceed 18 months.
More information on the program and the pre-application can be found at: www.rihousing.com/MTAP. The program is accepting applications on a rolling basis and participation is subject to funding availability.
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