Dare County to return $35M in housing funds to the state

From OuterBanksVoice.com

The fate of the $35 million in state funds awarded for affordable housing in Dare County was resolved at the May 7 Dare Board of Commissioners meeting when County Manager Bobby Outten informed the board that the money had to be returned to the state in the near future.

At their May 7 meeting, the commissioners had been prepared to discuss a request from the Dare County Housing Task Force to delay returning the $35 million while the Task Force worked on a plan acceptable to Dare County and its towns.

However, as Outten noted, last week the state legislature passed a measure that removed a widely criticized provision in the funding that would have overridden Dare County towns’ ability to regulate housing developments funded with that money. But the legislation also required the return of the $35 million to state coffers.

District 3 State Senator Bobby Hanig was asked about the legislation mandating the return of the $35 million.

“I was trying to find a way to hold onto the money, but I was unable to. Once the board of commissioners voted to return it, that issue was determined by the Senate leadership,” he told the Voice.

The Dare Commissioners had approved returning the money to the state at their April 9 meeting, but the Housing Task Force had subsequently asked the county to try and hold on to those funds.

The timeline on the return of the funds is tight, Outten told the commissioners at their May 7 meeting.

“We have to return the money…Timing wise it, doesn’t have to be done tomorrow. It doesn’t have to be done the next day…but according to the President Pro Tem’s office, by the end of the fiscal year it does have to be done,” he said.

The loss of the funding will affect how the recently formed Housing Task Force will approach workforce housing issues in the county. Task Force Chair Donna Creef told the Voice that even without the $35 million, there was still work that could be done. She pointed to looking at how other communities had addressed critical housing shortages.

“We can do research…glean some information from that. Look at some information on land trusts and nonprofits…There’s long term work to do,” she said.

Task Force members, Creef added, understand what they are confronting is a complex problem and there may be limits to what can be accomplished.

“We’re all realistic in that we’re not going to solve it, but maybe we can make it a little bit better,” she said.