Governor Ted Kulongoski is hosting a ceremonial bill signing to celebrate the legislation that increases the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit (OAHTC) from $6.2 million to $11 million on Thursday July 28 in Salem.  The OAHTC is a central tool for developers of affordable housing to reduce rents for Oregon families working low wage jobs. The OAHTC was the lead legislative issue on the Housing Opportunities Agenda, the 2005 legislative platform of the Housing Alliance, a coalition of 30 organizations, local governments and associations.

“By expanding the OAHTC, Governor Kulongoski and the Legislature took action to increase housing opportunity for Oregon families,” said Sheila Greenlaw-Fink, the Executive Director of Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH), a Tigard non-profit that has developed and manages 143 affordable rental units in Washington County. "This program will allow us to serve more working parents like Angel Moore and CeCe Van Horn. Both experienced homelessness and substandard housing situations before living in CPAH properties for several years. That period of stability led to increased job opportunities, better school performance for their children, and ultimately, homeownership."

Prior to the passage of the OAHTC cap, the credit was nearly fully prescribed, essentially limiting or prohibiting the use of the credit for qualified housing developments across the state.  In addition to expanding the cap to $11 million, the new legislation also extends the OAHTC sunset to 2020.

The OAHTC allows banks to reduce interest rates on loans for affordable housing by 4% and claim a state income tax credit equal to the lost interest income caused by the lower interest rate.  Property owners must agree to pass through all of the interest savings to low income tenants in the form of permanent rent reductions.

“The Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit is one of the most effective ways to make rents affordable to Oregonians who have been left behind by the housing market,” said Bill Van Vliet, executive director of NOAH, a consortium of financial institutions committed to addressing Oregon’s acute housing needs. “The beauty of the OAHTC is its efficiency. Rents are typically reduced by more than the amount required by the credit, and all of that benefit goes to the tenants. The state gets a great return on it’s investment from the OAHTC program.”

Lower rents provided by the OAHTC allow households to be financially stable and not be forced to choose between housing and food, medicine or heat. The lack of housing affordable to Oregon families, seniors and people with disabilities is a growing problem throughout Oregon. A recent national study released from Forbes ranks Portland as the nation’s third least affordable City for housing, and this Spring the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco ranked Oregon 48th in rental affordability.

“The OAHTC is crucial support for hardworking rural Oregon renters,” said Jim Tierney, Housing and Development Staff for the Community Action Team, a non profit housing developer based in St. Helen’s.  “Its dollar for dollar rent reductions help families meet the basic needs of their children.  For rural developers the OAHTC is the central part of the financing that allows us to provide decent housing for rural families.”

To learn more about the Housing Alliance, go to: http://www.oregonhousingalliance.org/

Oregon Legislature Reauthorizes Limited Tax Abatement Homeownership Tool

Senate Bill 847, a bill to reauthorize the Single Family New Construction Tax Abatement has passed the legislature and has been signed by the Governor. The program, which provides a tax exemption for affordable homeownership, has been inactive since 2003. A tax abatement can make a home affordable to those who might not otherwise be able to achieve the dream of homeownership. If you have any questions, contact Brian Morisky at (503) 823-3270, or email him at lta@pdc.us.

Similarly, Senate Bill 839 has passed the legislature and been signed by the Governor. This bill extended the “sunset” date for the New Multi-Unit Housing (NMUH) Tax Exemption program until 2012. The NMUH Tax Exemption promotes new multi-unit housing in Urban Renewal Areas and in the Central City Plan District. Each of the abatements has been approved by City Council. The program has affordability requirements for rental projects with 15 or more units, and for all homeownership projects.

Federal Update: Housing, Community Development Funding Moves in Senate

On Thursday, July 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 28 to 0 to approve a bill that would fund a variety of housing and community development programs for fiscal year 2006. The Senate bill, (H.R. 3058) provides funds for the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Treasury, and Transportation. The House passed a similar but not identical bill on June 30.

The total size of the bill approved by the Appropriations Committee yesterday is $446 million larger than what was approved by the subcommittee on Tuesday. Subcommittee Chairman Kit Bond (R-MO) included provisions to step up IRS tax enforcement in order to generate the extra funds. Committee members voted to put some of the additional $446 million into Amtrak funding, but they also increased certain housing programs over the levels approved by the subcommittee. (The White House has threatened a veto of the bill over the Amtrak spending level.)

In his budget released earlier this year, the President recommended slashing HUD's budget by 11.5 percent, eliminating the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and making deep cuts to public housing, housing for people with disabilities and other programs. For the most part, Representatives and Senators appear to have rejected the more draconian aspects of President's housing recommendations. The overall budget for HUD approved by the Senate committee yesterday is $2.8 billion more than last year. Nonetheless, both the House and Senate bills contain some serious shortfalls for housing and community development programs.

Section 8 is the cornerstone of affordable housing programs, providing subsidies to help two million low-income families afford rental housing. Like the House-passed bill, the Senate subcommittee bill boosts spending for Section 8 vouchers over last year's levels. Both bills provide about $15.6 billion for tenant-based assistance and $5.1 billion for project-based assistance – a total increase of about $660 million. While that increase is important, the National Low Income Housing Coalition finds that in order to replace the vouchers lost in fiscal years 2004 and 2005, funding for housing vouchers would have to be increased by at least $1.1 billion.

The Senate subcommittee bill reduces funding for the Public Housing Capital Fund by $252 million (a 9.7 percent decrease) to $2.327 billion and increases funding for the Public Housing Operating Fund by $969 million to $3.557 billion (a 40 percent increase). Those programs fare slightly better under the House-approved bill -- $2.6 billion for the Capital Fund and $3.6 billion for the Operating Fund. Public housing agencies use the capital fund to provide for capital and management needs of public housing, including modernization and rehabilitation. Operating funds are used to pay for utilities, provide resident services and pay for salaries of public housing authority employees.

Senate appropriators added $7 million to HOPE VI , a housing program that revitalizes distressed public housing, bringing funding to $150 million. President Bush requested eliminating the program and the House funded it at just $60 million.

The President ignited a firestorm when he proposed eliminating the $4.671 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the HUD budget and merging it with 17 different community development programs into a smaller block grant based at the Treasury Department. The Senate appropriations subcommittee rejected that approach, funding CDBG at $4.324 billion, a reduction of $347 million. The House funded CDBG at $4.217 billion.

The House provided a $100 million increase for Homeless Assistance Grants , while the Senate committee added $175 million (a 14 percent increase), which would bring the total to $1.415 billion. Section 811 Disabled Housing  was funded at $238 million in fiscal year 2005. The House would keep that amount for 2006; the Senate committee bill would increase it by just $2 million. The Native American Housing Block Grant would be level-funded at $622 million under the Senate bill; the House would cut it to $600 million. The $281 million Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS program would grow under the House bill to $290 million (a 3.2 percent increase); the Senate committee funds it at $287 million. Both the House and Senate bills would level fund the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program at $742 million.

Article from the July 22, 2005 edition  of the CHN Human Needs  Report. Visit the National Low Income Housing Coalition web site for more information and a chart detailing proposed fiscal year 2006 housing funding: www.nlihc.org.

Illinois' new Rental Housing Support Program, hailed as perhaps the largest rental assistance fund in the nation, was signed into law last week by Governor Rod Blagojevich, adding a new surcharge on real estate document filing that is projected to raise $30 million and assist 5,500 families. Illinois joins a growing number of states investing funds in solutions identified by 10-Year Plans. The law places a new $10 fee on documents filed during home sales by both buyers and sellers. The program will reward landlords who agree to charge affordable rent to low-income tenants. The subsidies will help families that make below 30 percent of the Area Median Income. This means a family of four will qualify if its income is below approximately $19,000.

"People need housing that's safe, dependable and affordable. They need to live near their jobs and their schools. Affordable housing is a critical element to helping hard working people get ahead," Governor Blagojevich said in a statement announcing he'd signed the new law. The Illinois Housing Development Authority will distribute the funds to administering agencies, such as local housing authorities, municipalities or community groups. Those agencies will then contract with landlords, inspect units, and determine tenant eligibility. The landlord agrees to charge qualifying families a flat fee of 30 percent of their monthly income, and the administering agency will pay the balance of the rent. 70% of rental units subsidized through the program must be located outside of the city of Chicago.

Mayor Richard Daley, in prepared remarks to the Annual Meeting of the Partnership to End Homelessness in Chicago, commented on the fund's potential and Chicago's plans for expanding housing, stating, "This legislation will add $14 million to the Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund to help more than 2,000 additional families who are considered rent-burdened, meaning they have to pay more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. Half of these new subsidies will be earmarked for the Plan to End Homelessness to create wholesale change in our homeless system."

Housing advocates in Oregon have sought a similar real estate transfer surcharge as a funding source to meet the housing needs of families, seniors and people with disabilities.  However, a state law pushed through by realtor associations in 1999 prohibits any community in Oregon from using this valuable funding tool.  Oregon is just one of 13 state’s that does not have some sort of real estate transfer fee.

Your 990 has never mattered more! The IRS, foundations, prospective donors, and even the U.S. Congress have all become deeply interested in how accurate and transparent charities are being when we complete our annual Form 990. IRS computers are now programmed to mine the data bonanza that each year's 990s provide to identify potential conflicts of interest, under reporting of fundraising expenses and other problem areas.

On August 3, TACS presents Form 990: Critical Issues. The workshop will run from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.  The workshop will take place at the Mary L. Collins Conference Center at the YWCA.  The workshop cost is $125.

Join Terry Miller to learn how you can make sure your 990 is both technically "complete and accurate" as well as transparent and useful to funders, constituents, and the public. Bring a copy of your most recent 990 to identify your own hot spots and to improve the presentation of your accomplishments and financial realities.

Learn

         •          990 hot spots and the audits they spawn

         •          Excess benefit transaction traps

         •          Fundraising expense reporting requirements

         •          What the IRS really wants on 990 Schedule A

For Registration information, go to http://www.tacs.org/training/event.asp?evID=276.

Online Event: Succession Planning & Executive Transition Management Aug 10

The Enterprise Foundation presents “Succession Planning & Executive Transition Management” on August 10, 2005. The training runs for 90 minutes beginning 12:03 pm.

Description

Community development and the entire nonprofit sector face major changes in leadership as the baby boomer age wave starts rolling toward retirement.   Recent turnover in major national and local organizations are just the beginning.  A recent national leadership study confirmed that many executives of nonprofit organizations are in their 50s (55% are over 50) and that these baby-boomer executives are going to leave the sector in two waves—the first by 2010 and then another by 2020.  A little over half of the baby-boomers (57%) in nonprofit executive director positions are planning on leaving by 2010.  An Annie E. Casey Foundation survey of its community-based grantees indicated that 85% of the executive directors planned to leave over a 7 year period.

 This major change in leadership is both a threat and opportunity.  This session will share two organizational development practices – Executive Transition Management  and Succession and Sustainability Planning.  These tools for nonprofits are the result of over 12 years of field research and practice supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and others on this issue.  Our discussion will provide first hand case study examples from leading practitioners of Executive Transition Management and Succession Planning and introduce participants to how this approach can be applied to organizations before, during and after a leadership transition.

 Expected Outcomes

1. Explore the risks and opportunities that come with an executive transition

2. Become familiar with Executive Transition Management and Succession Planning and how they reduce risks and increase gains in organizational health and effectiveness

3. Explore relevance and value of these processes to community development/community building organizations and how and when to introduce them to organizations

4. Introduce participants to tools and resources available on the Web and elsewhere to assist organizations with leadership transition and succession planning.

 Who should attend?

v       Founders of community based organizations (CBO’s)

v       Long-term executive directors of   CBO’s

 Presented by:  

Tom Adams, TransitionGuides - “Strengthening organizations during leadership change”  www.transitionguides.com

Denice Rothman Hinden, TransitionGuides and Managance Consulting

To register, please contact Kathy Holmes at 410.772.2411 or kholmes@enterprisefoundation.org.

The ultimate leadership challenge: organizational transformation. It does not happen overnight, but begins with the spark of visionary leadership, followed by the persistent and insightful development of the organization over time.

The transformation process begins by analyzing the organization’s mission. The organization must identify how the impact of its mission is determined as well as the level of mission alignment within the organization. The next step is to implement a comprehensive organizational assessment and strategic planning process. Finally, the organization must implement the plan and create a process for ongoing strategic review.

The September 19-20 training will be conducted by Rob Sheehan, Ph. D.  Dr. Sheehan has 22 years of nonprofit experience, including 18 years as the CEO of two different nonprofits. He provides consulting services to nonprofits in strategic planning, leadership development and fundraising. He has a BA in political science and education from Westminster College, an MA in philanthropic organization management from Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in organization development from Ohio State University. His Ph.D. research focused on nonprofit excellence.

Upon completion of this course, leaders will have the tools for designing all of these activities within their organizations and a tailor-made plan for beginning the overall process. This two-day course is for executive directors and other senior organizational leaders who are committed to making a “breakthrough impact” on their communities by transforming their organizations.  Participation is limited to 24.

Special offer: Due to the extremely beneficial nature of this workshop, the Neighborhood Partnership Fund (NPF) will sponsor a limited number of grantee Board members to attend this workshop at no cost to grantees!   

Send a Board member! We can offer FREE workshop registration for up to 10 grantee Board members. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to work with your Board on transforming your organization!

Please send in your registration no later than Friday, August 26, 2005.

Leadership for Organizational Transformation

Dates: September 19 - 20, 2005

Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 

Location: TBA

Cost: $150.00

Contact Daurie for registration information at dmangan@tnpf.org

The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government, is accepting applications for the $100,000 Innovations in American Government Awards, including two special awards: the Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations Award in Affordable Housing and the Annie E. Casey Innovations Award in Children and Family Systems Reform. Both awards focus on public policy innovation. The application deadline is Sept.15. For more information, go to the Innovations in American Government Awards website.

Podcasting: A New Voice on the Net to Reach Donors, Members

Have you ever wanted to speak directly to your donors, constituents, or clients? Podcasting can give you the chance.

Read this TechSoup article and find out how it works and how to decide if it's right for your organization: http://ga0.org/ct/F716yKS12RE_/