The revolving loan fund proposal is an initiative geared toward accelerating development across a county in desperate need for low-income housing options.
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- The proposal aims to use interest from American Rescue Plan Act funds for a revolving loan program to spur development.
- Supervisors raised objections about the resolution’s wording and lack of specific details, sending it back to committee.
- The county needs an estimated 10,000 new housing units in the next decade to support its workforce and seniors.
WINNEBAGO COUNTY – The county’s $4.5 million initiative to spur housing development will have to wait at least another month.
A proposal to use interest from American Rescue Plan Act funds for a revolving loan program has been put on hold for now after members of the Winnebago County Board expressed concerns about the legality of the resolution’s wording.
Faced with a motion to move $3.5 million of interest from remaining ARPA dollars to fund the housing initiative, the county voted 25-9 for sending the proposal back to its ARPA committee following more than three hours of debate at a Nov. 18 board of supervisors meeting.
What was the specific objection to the revolving loan fund proposal?
According to District 26 Supervisor Conley Hanson, the funds have no interest to draw from because the county moved the ARPA money (renamed the Spirit Fund) into two separate pots, calling the resolution a “legal landmine.”
But Winnebago County Executive Gordon Hintz explained the proposal’s language isn’t an issue considering the interest was already accrued, and the remaining ARPA funds were allocated for county government projects such as this one.
The county has $11.2 million of ARPA funds remaining and a Spirit Fund allocations planning document shows that money accrued just less than $3.5 million of interest as of Aug. 22.
“This question came up at the committee level, and it was determined money in the Spirit Fund was for county projects and initiatives, so I guess he was struggling to understand how the loan fund directly addresses county purposes,” Hintz told the Northwestern.
“I was a little surprised it was brought up again.”
What is the revolving loan fund proposal?
Conceptualized under previous county executive Jon Doemel, the revolving loan fund proposal is an initiative geared toward accelerating development across a county in desperate need of low-income housing options.
In a news release, Winnebago County said it would need 10,000 new housing units in the next decade to support the workforce and seniors.
A recent Outagamie County housing needs assessment estimated the region will need to build anywhere in the region of 10,000 to 17,000 new affordable units by 2030.
With $1 million already committed by the county’s Industrial Development Board, Hintz said the revolving loan fund would combine the additional $3.5 million in providing low-interest financing for developers to cover early expenses like property acquisition and holding costs.
Local non-profits would submit proposals to manage and invest in the fund, with repayments set to return to that fund to be reinvested in future projects.
Is there support for the revolving loan fund?
The proposal for the revolving loan fund follows similar initiatives done in Sheboygan and Jefferson counties, where ARPA funds are being used to spur housing programs.
In a letter to the county cosigned by 33 community and economic leaders, Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Tricia Rathermel expressed support for the proposal, saying companies’ biggest challenge is attainable single-family housing for their workforce.
“This shortage directly impacts our ability to recruit and retain employees, support local business growth, and maintain a stable, prosperous community,” Rathermel wrote in the letter.
The resolution was met with a lot of pushback in the marathon 225-minute meeting, with several supervisors expressing concerns about the county not detailing specific rates or naming a specific non-profit organization in the proposal to manage the fund.
At one stage, Hanson asked to suspend the proposal indefinitely before withdrawing that motion and moving instead to send the resolution back to the ARPA Strategy and Outcomes Commission.
“We want to be flexible and not overly prescriptive on this, especially as we haven’t even sent out an RFP,” Hintz explained. “We would want the nonprofit to be able to deliver the biggest bang for their buck.”
What happens next?
Board chair Thomas Egan, who also co-chairs the ARPA committee with Hintz, told the Northwestern he hopes to clarify certain language at the committee level by the first week of December so the resolution can return by the Dec. 16 board meeting.
Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@usatodayco.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @justinmarville.
