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Hernando Today

Stabins' Plan Draws Few Takers

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: September 18, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - "Help, I need somebody!"

The opening lyrics of the famous Beatles song may well apply to County Commissioner Jeff Stabins' economic stimulus package, also called HELP.

In fact, HELP may have to be fine-tuned to gather more applicants.

Short for Housing Enhancement Loan Program, HELP has only attracted 10 seniors who bothered to apply for loan assistance to rehabilitate their home.

And those people's applications have not yet been processed, so it is not certain whether they will qualify, Housing Authority Executive Director Donald Singer said.

If they meet the eligibility requirements, those 10 people would get loans - totaling about $40,000 each - to fix up their homes, Singer said.

Singer, who started accepting applications 10 days ago, said he will give it about another month to see if more people age 62 and older sign up.

Applicants must be at least that old to qualify.

If the interest level stays as is, Singer said he will think about expanding HELP to the next group of people who would qualify: the handicapped and disabled.

But before he does that, Singer said he will probably have to re-advertise the program and promote it.

"I don't think it's out there quite well enough," Singer said.

Stabins said he is disappointed at the low turnout for the loans. He said he met with Social Services Director Jean Rags and agreed to put flyers promoting the program in different locations throughout the county.

"For whatever reason, it's just not getting out into the community as it should," Stabins said. "They apparently don't know enough about it. It's such a great program."

Stabins said he had hoped that builders and subcontractors would already be busy rehabilitating people's homes.

"The main goal here is to put people back to work," he said. "That's the economic stimulus."

Stabins' HELP program proved popular when he introduced it in July as an alternative to the lowering of impact fees. In fact, it was one of the reasons commissioners threw out the fee reduction.

At the time, Stabins said HELP would provide zero-percent loans available through the already-existing State Housing Initiatives Program (SHIP) to people whose homes are valued at less than $30,000.

But since then, several key points have come to light, including the fact that only low-income people 62 or older could apply for the loans. The applicant must be head of household and fall within certain income guidelines.

Also, Singer said there is no $30,000 restriction on home values and loans.

Other restrictions: Applicants cannot live in a mobile home; 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.

Singer, who has earmarked about $1.8 million of SHIP money for HELP, said Stabins may not have been well-versed on the mandated uses of that money when he first presented it to the public.

Michael Burmann, a local independent home inspector who ran unsuccessfully for Stabins' District 1 seat, said 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.

"Because the program was flawed from the very beginning and needs to be rewritten, the money isn't going anywhere and the jobs aren't being created," Burmann said.

Burmann said Singer is now caught in the middle of trying to retool a program to make it fit into the state requirements that mandate how SHIP funds can be used.

Stabins said it is unfortunate that Burmann is taking a negative attitude.

"Mike would make a very good member of the Hernando Housing Authority, and I said I would help him," Stabins said. "If he's concerned about our economy, he should be working positively with us to make a difference."

For more information about HELP, call the Housing Authority at 754-4160.

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

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