Crookston at work to create housing trust fund to support homeowners and mitigate housing shortage
Sep. 21—CROOKSTON, Minn. — A housing trust fund account is on the horizon for the city of Crookston, with the goal to ease the area's housing shortage, support cost-burdened homeowners and address substandard housing issues.
Karie Kirschbaum, executive director of the Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority, said the account will hopefully show residents that the city wants to work on the issues the community is facing.
"By doing this, we want the community, we want our employers to know that we hear them, that we know they need housing," she said. "We also are very aware they need child care. This is just one of the pillars to put in place to start addressing housing."
On Monday, Sept. 16, the Crookston City Council held a special meeting to read an ordinance creating the City of Crookston Housing Trust Fund. It also decided to schedule a public hearing with respect to adopting the city code regarding the trust fund, which will take place on Monday, Sept. 23, during the next council meeting, Kirschbaum said. Following that, she said the council will vote on the ordinance, which she expects will pass without challenges. Then, the city will apply for a local housing trust fund to facilitate the fund once a grant round from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency becomes available. The Crookston EDA will have to match the $150,000 with its own $150,000, which Kirscbhaum said the group has already agreed to.
The Minnesota Housing Partnership, and its Community Development Director Leah Hall, is helping Crookston through the process, she said.
"We're very thankful to Leah over there for her assistance," Kirscbhaum said.
The city initially heard about the opportunity to create a trust fund account during a symposium held in August in Grand Forks, she said, where multiple organizations like the Minnesota Housing Partnership, Northwest Minnesota Foundation, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and other entities told attendees that they were there to help with housing, explaining different projects and processes they could go through for their benefit with the help of the different groups there.
Ever since then, Crookston has been working with the Minnesota Housing Partnership and has met with the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and other entities that have come to visit to maneuver the different options available. The housing trust fund is just one of those options they have discussed, Kirscbhaum said.
The trust fund account grant the city is applying for will be for 115% of the state median income, which means households of up to $128,500 will be able to apply to work with the fund for a variety of projects, she said. This could include offsetting down payments, loans and grants for new construction or rehabilitation, or other things that the city is still working out. The city could also use it to create affordable housing, as employers in the area are having a difficult time trying to find places for their staff to live.
"Even though it seems like, oh, you have $120,000 coming in, you should be able to shake it — by the time you have kids in daycare and car payments, it really can be challenging," Kirschbaum said.
