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Hernando Today

HELP Program Expands To General Public

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: November 29, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - County Commissioner Jeff Stabins' self-styled economic stimulus program will be expanded a second time to try and drum up interest in the community.

Starting next week, the Housing Enhancement Loan Program (HELP) - designed to rehabilitate certain homes - will be opened up to the general public who meet strict low-income salary guidelines.

Stabins introduced HELP in July as an alternative to the lowering of impact fees by at least 25 percent for a minimum 18 months. It was one of the reasons commissioners opted to disregard an impact fee reduction that was being pushed by builders and others as a way to jump-start the construction industry and put contractors back to work.

But it wasn't until some weeks later that the full details of HELP emerged. Rather than being available to everyone, the program was initially opened to people 62 and older, a fact Stabins admitted he was unaware of when he unveiled it.

So far, only two seniors have expressed an interest in HELP. And even they are waiting for the red tape to clear before any kind of work begins on their homes - if it begins.

A contract to do their rehabilitation work is still pending, according to Housing Authority Executive Director Donald Singer.

About a month later, Singer expanded the home rehabilitation program to another priority group: low-income disabled and handicapped.

Again, no takers.

Singer hopes this latest expansion will work. But he admits he is disappointed in the response.

"Quite honestly I thought we would be overwhelmed and we weren't," Singer said. "I'm assuming we just didn't get the word out enough."

Singer thanked Hernando Today for trying to publicize the program. The newspaper has written five stories on HELP since Stabins introduced it four months ago.

Singer has earmarked about $1.8 million of State Housing Initiatives Program (SHIP) money to help fund Stabins' economic incentive program.

Stabins did not return repeated phone calls for comment on this latest story.

To qualify for HELP, homeowners must fall into these income guidelines:

• $19,800 or less for a one-person household.

• $22,600 or less for a two-person household.

• $25,450 or less for a three-person household.

• $28,250 or less for a four-person household.

But the restrictions don't stop with income.

Applicants cannot live in a mobile home and the repairs or rehabilitation to the home cannot exceed $37,000 and the loans must be used to repair or correct only certain structural features.

Once Singer's office receives an application, local building contractors go out to these people's homes, determine the scope of the rehabilitation job and decide whether it is worthwhile for them to bid on the project.

Dudley Hampton Jr., president of the Hernando Builders Association, said recently that HELP is "not going to stimulate the economy to what it's been in the past."

Hampton and other builders would rather have seen commissioners reduce impact fees back in July. That would have allowed Hernando County to tap into state money which would have helped first-time homebuyers purchase foreclosed and other homes - alleviating the existing home glut and allowing builders to start new home construction, he said.

Hampton is not the only one critical of HELP.

Michael Burmann, a local independent home inspector who ran unsuccessfully for Stabins' District 1 seat, told Hernando Today in an earlier interview that the commissioner used HELP as a political maneuver to get votes and portrayed it as something that would create jobs.

Because he didn't investigate the proper use of SHIP funds beforehand, the program was "doomed to failure," said Burmann, who has applied for a seat on the Hernando County Housing Authority Board.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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