Housing Fund
The Community Housing Affordability Program and Community Housing Trust Program, collectively known
as the Housing Fund, are a joint effort of Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca and Cornell University and will
help communities and organizations throughout Tompkins County respond to the diverse affordable housing
needs of its residents. Projects must include units of affordable housing for low and moderate income
households.
Community Housing Affordability Program Overview
The Community Housing Affordability Program is a locally funded and administered fund that assists with the
pre-development costs associated with residential and mixed-use real estate development projects. Eligible uses
of the fund include costs associated with establishing preliminary feasibility, pre-permitting, or pre-construction
for a specific non-student housing project. Funds will be provided as a 0% interest loan that will be repaid from
construction or permanent financing for the project. Eligible borrowers include both for-profit and non-profit
developers. Funds may be available for preliminary and advanced feasibility. Funding will not be made
available for administrative costs.
Community Housing Trust Program Overview
The Community Housing Trust Program is designed to ensure that newly constructed housing units or
rehabilitated housing units remain affordable to successive buyers. Permanent affordability is retained by such
measures as separating the ownership of the land from the ownership of the housing unit, whereby only the
housing unit is purchased by the homebuyer, and by restricting the amount of equity that a homeowner can take
from the housing unit upon sale, or other equivalent mechanisms. Eligible uses of the fund include the cost of
land provided that the non-student housing unit remains permanently affordable by such measures as the
Community Housing Trust or another acceptable mechanism.
Housing Fund Notice of Funding Availability
Applications for the NOFA are due by Monday, March 19, 2012 at 4 p.m.
Housing Fund NOFA - Budget Template (Excel)
Housing Fund Press Release
Members of the Tompkins County staff will be on hand to answer questions concerning the Notice of Funding
Availability (NOFA) process and evaluation. If you have questions about the NOFA, please email planning@tompkins-co.org or call 607-274-5560. Answers to NOFA questions will be posted periodically on the Tompkins County Planning Department website.
Questions and Responses regarding Housing Fund from November 2009 Informational Meeting
Questions and Responses from May 2010 Informational Meeting
Additional Questions
Q: "A cover page plus a MAXIMUM of two-page narrative to address each of the eight evaluation sections of criteria detailed in the NOFA." I assume this to mean that you're looking for no more than 2 pages of narrative for each section, not a total of two pages for everything. Is that correct?
A: That is correct; no more than 2 pages for each section.
[posted December 17, 2009]
Q: I am working on the application for funding and I was wondering if we could substitute our own budgets for those in your NOFA? Assuming they have the same information.
A: Your budget information should be transferred into the format requested in the NOFA.
[posted December 17, 2009]
Q: Our company's finance department would like to send our budget materials under separate cover. Is that acceptable?
A: No. All materials must be submitted as a complete application. It is the applicant's responsibility to package the material from the finance department with the rest of their application.
[posted December 23, 2009]
Q: We are requesting funds to cover expenses that may be incurred prior to receiving funding. Are we able to use the funds for these expenses?
A: No, not at this time. The purpose of the Housing Fund is to provide gap financing for a project and the funds are expected to be expended after the grant or loan contract has been executed. It is possible that, if requested, a contract may be written to allow funds to cover expenses incurred from the date of award of the grant or loan.
[posted December 23, 2009]
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