Residential Rehabilitation Is Coming Soon

The four major economic development areas that impact economic growth and enhance the quality of life are the workforce, infrastructure, community efforts, and real estate (commercial and residential). As society celebrates Economic Development Week and America prepares to celebrate Homeownership Month, MARC shares some real estate news for residents.

Watonwan County is developing a program to offer funding support that encourages rehabilitation housing projects throughout the county. This program will help homeowners and residential property owners with funding assistance for necessary repairs and upgrades.

How It Started 

On December 26, 2023, Watonwan County received funding from Minnesota’s Dept of Revenue for housing aid. This payment complied with the Legislature’s Statewide Affordable Housing Aid (SAHA), created to “preserve affordable housing … to keep families from losing housing and to help those experiencing homelessness find housing.” Watonwan County set the funds aside and created a county-focused program to better assist local homeowners, the Watonwan County Affordable Housing Aid Program (WCAHAP).

A little background … In 2023, under SAHA, each Minnesota county was given housing aid based on two factors:

• Base aid of $78,300 each
• Cost-burdened household aid = number of cost-burdened households in a county divided by the total cost-burdened households in all counties

A “cost-burdened household” has household costs equaling more than 30% of household incomes. This information is taken from the US Census Survey and then used to create a detailed five-year formula to determine the distribution amounts per qualified county and city.

Watonwan County received $87,129 ($78,300 + $8,829), base aid plus cost-burdened household aid.

What Happens Now?

WCAHAP is still in the developing and approval stages with plans to launch in June 2024. The program will be managed by the St. James Economic Development Authority (EDA).  

On July 20, 2024, and December 26, 2024, Watonwan County is scheduled to receive two installments of $43,564.50 each from SAHA, which will go into WCAHAP.

For residents needing immediate home repair assistance, Minnesota Housing also offers three different Home Improvement Programs outside of Watonwan County’s centralized program.

Residents interested and needing funding assistance should contact one of the following and inquire:

• St. James EDA 
• Housing Specialist at Alliance Bank in Madelia
• Housing Specialist at Pioneer Bank in Madelia or St. James

More About SAHA

To learn more about SAHA and LAHA, Minnesota’s Department of Revenue site has detailed and updated information regarding 2024.

For a quick overview, read the FAQS, published in 2023. Updates will come soon.