March 29, 2024
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Van Buren gets $300,000 housing grant

VAN BUREN – The town has been approved for $300,000 to assist homeowners and landlords in the repair of homes for low- to moderate-income residents.

The housing grant is the fifth one received by Van Buren since 1995. Over those years, the town has received $2 million, and about 95 homes have been rehabilitated in the community.

The town was seeking $400,000, but the Maine Office of Economic and Community Development kept the grants at $300,000 for the present round of funding, according to Community Development Coordinator Daniel Lapointe on Wednesday.

“We must be demonstrating a need,” Lapointe said Wednesday. “We keep applying and we keep getting approved.”

The $300,000 Community Development Block Grant could help 20 homeowners or more and an equal number of tenant rental units. Lapointe said $200,000 of the grant is for private homes and $100,000 is for rentals. Landlords must put in an equal amount of money to get the grants for their rental units.

“We still have a waiting list of people with housing and rental rehabilitation needs,” Lapointe said. “And we are still working on a list developed in 1999. Some people have passed away while waiting for assistance.”

The work involving the new money will be done in summer 2005, Lapointe explained. Town officials still are finishing up paperwork on the last round of funding the town received.

While there is a matching requirement for landlords, the money used for private home rehabilitation is 100 percent grants.

According to the development coordinator, Van Buren has a 58 percent low- and moderate-income population. He said the town also has a lot of older homes needing upgrading and many people in town need assistance.

“We don’t have to beat the bushes to find people with a need for housing money,” Lapointe said.

Rehabilitating work on a private home is limited to $15,000. The average cost of rehabilitating a home in Van Buren is $10,500, according to Lapointe.

Residents wanting assistance must meet income guidelines. The upper limit is $30,350 per year for a household with two people. The lower the household income, the higher on the list the household climbs. Lower-income households receive assistance first.

While a town must demonstrate a need for grant assistance, it also must have the ability to administer grants coming its way. Lapointe said some communities need assistance, but don’t have the capacity to take care of the large amount of paperwork needed.


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