The Board of Trustees of the City of Revere's Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) held its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday evening, August 12, in the City Council Chamber. On hand for the session were chair Joseph Gravellese, Treasurer Anayo Osueke, and fellow board members Dean Harris, Matt Wolfer, Laila Pietri, Lori Manzo, Deb Frank, and Judy Gosselin.
Osueke presented the treasurer's report. He said the AHTF has a balance in its account of $998,999.02. which includes $3809.55 received in interest from the past month.
The members discussed the final draft of the application for the buy-down assistance program for first-time home buyers that the AHTF has been working on for the past few months.
The program will provide financial assistance that will help persons to buy homes that they otherwise would be unable to afford. The program is designed to benefit those with incomes ranging from 60-120% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
The property will be deed-restricted. If the homeowner sells the home within 10 years, the homeowner will have to resell the property at the then-affordable price level. If the homeowner sells the property between 10 and 20 years afterwards, any profits will be split between the homeowner and the AHTF. After 20 years, the homeowner will be able to sell the property without any restrictions and keep all of the profits.
In order to be eligible, applicants must either be a resident of Revere for at least two years, or have a child in the local schools, or be a full-time (30 hours or more) employee of a Revere-based employer.
Osueke suggested some tweaks to the application regarding the requirements of the program and Gravallese said he would incorporate Osueke's suggestions before the application went "live" on the city's website.
Gravallese also said that October 21 will be the opening date for the application process with a closing date of February 3 (unless the available funds in the program are expended before that date). Those who have been approved for funding them will have until May 3 to avail themselves of the funding; otherwise, the funds will revert back to the AHTF.
The board unanimously agreed to the final form of the application and the time-line. The members then discussed how to get the word out to the community, including banks and realtors, by means of press releases, social media, and flyers.
The members next discussed renewing the Senior Citizen Home Repair program, which last year assisted 12 Revere senior homeowners with grants that totaled $50,000 (with a maximum of $5000 per grantee).
The members voted unanimously in favor of another round for the program for the coming years, increasing both the total to $85,000 and the maximum per recipient to $6000. Funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis for those with completed applications.
There will be a Q&A session for prospective applicants at the Senior Center on Wednesday, August 31. The application process will open on September 8, continuing until the funds are exhausted.
Gravallese ended the meeting by announcing that the AHTF's down payment assistance program provided $10,000 each to 13 new homebuyers over the past year. This program had $150,000 available, leaving a balance of $20,000.
Gravallese suggested that the AHTF contribute another $50,000 to the program, which would make $70,000 available to prospective home-buyers for the coming year. The board voted unanimously to do so.