Breaking Ground - September 2001

Ohio Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Request for Proposals (RFP) Released

Housing Trust Fund and TANF Housing Program Funds Allocated for FY 2002

COHHIO News

Ohio Housing Trust Fund and TANF Housing Program

How to Contact and COHHIO Staff

Housing Credit Allocation Plan Hearings

NIMBY Update

Homeless Management Information Systems

Your Two Cents

City of Dayton Sued by Predatory Lenders...

Predatory Lending is Completely Legal in Ohio...

Section 8 Funding to the Moon

Unlevel Playing Field?

Big surprise...the rich are getting richer

Housing Tax Credit Workshop in Cleveland

Look for COHHIO in the Following Workplace Campaigns

Helpful Financial Sites

COHHIO Membership

Resources

Office Ergonomics

 

 

Ohio Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Request for Proposals (RFP) Released
The Ohio Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Request for Proposals (RFP) has been released. The Office of Housing and Community Partnerships, Ohio Department of Development, will distribute a total of up to $10,440,000 of Housing Trust Fund and TANF monies through this process. The HTF/TANF/RFP submission deadline is 5 pm on October 12, 2001. All organizations who intend to apply for the HTF/TAN/RFP program must complete a Notification of Intent to Apply form and return it to OHCP no later than September 14, 2001. Questions regarding the HTF/TANF/RFP process should be directed to Bob Johnson or Bill Bope at 614/466-2285.


Housing Trust Fund and TANF Housing Program Funds Allocated for FY 2002
Consistent with recommendations advocated by COHHIO, the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee developed the allocation plan for the Housing Trust Fund and TANF Housing Program for FY 2002. A total of $5.2 million in TANF funds and $25 million in Housing Trust funds were allocated according to the attached chart.

Housing Trust Funds will be used in essentially the same manner as last year, however given the overall reduction of HTF dollars, the Request for Proposals (RFP) will receive most of the TANF funds to make up for the reductions. Housing development projects will receive essentially the same overall amount of funding this year as last year due to one time availability of recaptures and interest revenue. This situation will be unlikely to be repeated next year when cuts in housing development funds are anticipated.

Most TANF Housing Program funds will be allocated through a RFP in combination with the regular Housing Trust Fund (HTF) RFP which was released in August with applications due on October 12th.
The TANF Housing Program has eligible activities which are similar to regular
HTF - RFP activities, including:
• help lower income families with down payment assistance to be able to buy a home, including mobile homes;
• help prevent families with children from becoming homeless through eviction and foreclosure prevention;
• help families in need of supportive services related to housing and homelessness, including housing counseling, and;
• help lower income families with emergency home repairs and supportive housing services.

Also $1 million in TANF Housing Program funds will be used to help provide emergency shelter to homeless families with children. It is anticipated that these funds will be used to free up federal Emergency Shelter Grant funds in order to provide approximately $1 million for the rehabilitation of emergency shelters throughout Ohio.

There are some issues which may be problematic as these programs unfold over the next year. Due to federal requirements, TANF funds are distributed on an reimbursement basis which may prove difficult to some non-profits operating on tight budgets. The Departments of Development and Jobs and Family Services will be entering into an agreement for the TANF Housing Program prior to any distributions. This process is well underway. However, there are those within the Taft administration who are interpreting language from the budget bill as requiring that TANF funds must be expended by non-profits by the end of the fiscal year (June 30th). Given that grant agreements are expected in January, a six month period is problematic. COHHIO is pursuing a legislative remedy to extend this timeframe to 18 months as opposed to 6 months.

 

 

COHHIO News
2002 Conference. Save the Date - COHHIO's 2002 Annual Conference - April 22-24, Columbus Marriott. Visit the COHHIO web page over the next few months for more information.

COHHIO Web Page. Be sure to visit the COHHIO web page for helpful information, including all the local information by county for the Out of Reach report, www.cohhio.org.

Board Recruitment. COHHIO is accepting applications for COHHIO board membership. The board meets approximately five to six times per year, plus an annual board retreat. We are particularly interested in nominations from Cincinnati and people involved in affordable housing work from Akron, Toledo, Youngstown and smaller towns and rural areas of the state. If you are interested in nominating someone (perhaps yourself) to be a COHHIO board member, please send a letter of intent and a resume to Bill Faith, COHHIO, 35 East Gay Street, Suite 210, Columbus, Ohio 43215-3118; 614/463-1060 (fax) or email to billfaith@cohhio.org by October 22, 2001.

 

 

Ohio Housing Trust Fund and TANF Housing Program
Allocations (in millions)

Actual Projected
FY 2001 FY 2002
Revenue
Housing Trust Fund
General Revenue Fund 7.75 18.7
Interest from Budget Stabilization Fund 12.5 0
Interest from the Housing Trust Fund Account 9.85 2.8
Recaptured Funds and additional interest 0 3.5
TANF Housing Program 0 5.2


TOTAL $30.1 $30.2

Expenditures
Request for Proposal 9.5 10.4
(Home repair, down payments (mobile homes for 02,
homelessness prevention, supportive services)
Housing Trust Fund - FY 02 Allocations 6.5
TANF Housing Program - FY 02 Allocations 3.9

Emergency Shelter Grant Program
(with TANF Housing Program funds for FY 02 only - to
free up federal ESG funds for rehab of emergency shelters) 0 1.0

Housing Development Assistance Program 17.9 15.8
FY 02 allocations
HDAP will also receive $8.8 million of HOME funds in 02
Low Income Housing Tax Credit Projects 15.9
Bond Projects 2.0
CDFF 0.5
RFP 6.0
(Homeownership, Section 8 Preservation,
Special Needs Rental)

Special Projects 1.2 1.3
(Habitat for Humanity-House the Assembly Built .7
AmeriCorps COHHIO .18
VISTA Ohio CDC .1
Elderly Service Coordinators .25
OTAG .05

Housing for Migrant Farm Workers .5 .3

Administration
Housing Trust Fund 1.0 1.1
TANF Housing Program 0 0.3


TOTAL $30.1 $30.2.

 

How to Contact... and COHHIO Staff
NATIONAL
National Coalition for the Homeless. Hotline:
202/775-1372 or www.nationalhomeless.org.

National Low Income Housing Coalition
www.nlihc.org

President Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20500; 202/456-1414; 202/456-2461 (fax)
president@white house.gov

Senators Voinovich & DeWine
United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510
Voinovich - 202/224-3353; 202/228-1382 (f)
Voinovich - voinovich@voinovich.senate.gov
DeWine - 202/224-2315; 202/224-6519 (f)
DeWine - senator_dewine@dewine.senate.gov

Representatives
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515; 202/224-3121

STATE
Governor Taft
77 S. High St., Columbus, Ohio 43215
614/466-3555; 614/466-9354 (fax)

Ohio Senate
State House, Columbus, Ohio 43266-0604
614/644-5466 (fax-R); 614/644-1982 (fax - D)

Ohio House of Representatives
77 S. High St., Columbus, Ohio 43215
614/644-9494 (fax)

Legislative Directories are available by contacting us: COHHIO - 35 E Gay St, Ste. 210,
Columbus, OH 43215-3138; 614/280-1984; 614/463-1060 (fax); www.cohhio.org.

 

Newsletter of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) September 2001 • Volume 6 • Issue 8. Editor: Susan Francis

COHHIO is a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to ending homelessness and to promoting decent, safe, fair, affordable housing for all, with a focus on assisting low-income people and those with special needs.

COHHIO Staff
Bill Faith, Executive Director; Pam Argus, Associate Director; Rebecca Bartholomew, AmeriCorps Program Coordinator; Kevin Blackledge, Youth Empowerment VISTA, Susan Francis, Communications Coordinator; Janet Holcomb, Administrative Assistant; Jowana Jenkins, OCRP VISTA; Cathy Johnston, Advocacy Coordinator; Angela Lariviere, Youth Empowerment Coordinator; Jill Russ, Section 8 Project Coordinator; Mary Scott, AmeriCorps Program Support Administrator; Rick Taylor, Housing Policy Director; Ande Ucubagabriel, Finance Director; Kurt Weidner, AmeriCorps Leader and Spencer Wells, Tenant Outreach Coordinator. 35 E. Gay St., Suite 210, Columbus, Ohio 43215-3138; 614/280-1984; 614/463-1060 (fax); cohhio@ cohhio.org; http://www.cohhio.org.

 

 

Housing Credit Allocation Plan Hearings
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency will hold three public hearings to gather comments for the 2002 Housing Credit Allocation Plan. The time and location of the hearings will be as follows:

Monday, October 1, 2001 - 2:00 - 4:00 pm
John C. Myers Convocation Center, Ashland University
816 Claremont Avenue, Ashland, Ohio 44805

Wednesday, October 3, 2001 - 2:00 - 4:00 pm
City of Blue Ash Recreation Center, Lower Level Conference Room
4433 Cooper Road, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242

Friday, October 5, 2001 - 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Lobby Glass Hearing Room, Rhodes State Office Tower
30 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215

Interested persons are invited to attend the public hearings and will be given the opportunity to express their views concerning the new allocation plan. Copies of the draft plan will be available at the public hearing locations or may be downloaded from the OHFA web site at www.odod.state.oh.us/ohfa or may be obtained by contacting OHFA at 614/466-0400. Bill Faith, COHHIO Executive Director, is a member of the Housing Credit Advisory Committee. There are a number of issues that might be changed. Please forward any suggestions for what should be changed to Bill at billfaith@cohhio.org; 614-280-1984 (phone), 614-463-1060 (fax) or at 35 East Gay Street, Suite 201, Columbus, Ohio 43215.

OHFA will accept written comments from September 5, 2001 to October 5, 2001. Written comments can be mailed to:
Ohio Housing Finance Agency
Attention: Housing Credit Manager
57 East Main Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-5135.

 

 

NIMBY Update
In past newsletters, we have discussed the case of Buckeye Community Hope Foundation's project in Cuyahoga Falls that has met NIMBY resistance. In a precedent setting case, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed a federal district judge's dismissal of a discrimination case against the city filed by Buckeye Community Hope Foundation. COHHIO was unable to receive permission from the Cleveland Plain Dealer to reprint an article on this issue in our September newsletter. We hope to receive permission and reprint it in October.

 

 

Homeless Management Information Systems
At COHHIO’s 2001 Annual Conference, several homeless service providers indicated that they would like to learn more about how to accurately and consistently track homeless individuals and families. Through the use of Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), many communities throughout the state are already using some type of centralized, automated data collection systems to compile and aggregate information on homeless services and the persons who utilize them.

With the need to collect and maintain this information becoming increasingly more important, so too has the need to establish common data standards across jurisdictions. In simplified terms, we need to make sure that we are comparing “apples to apples.” These standards include everything from identifying what information should be collected, instituting uniform measures by which this information is collected, and developing explicit methods that outline relevant reporting procedures. By establishing common data standards, collection techniques, and reporting methods, HMIS data can be compared across jurisdictions in an effort to better understand the dynamics of homelessness and the overall effectiveness of the services available.

In an effort to use the world wide web as a tool to exchange and share ideas, we are going to start posting information relevant to HMIS on the COHHIO web page. This section of the page will be set aside specifically for issues related to tracking homeless individuals and families. This is very much a work in progress, but we hope to maintain a site that provides useful and timely information regarding a variety of issues associated with HMIS. This information could include everything from links to other HMIS related sites, to on-line survey instruments. If you are interested in HMIS related issues, please check back often. In the meantime, please contact Rick Taylor at ricktaylor@cohhio.org if you have ideas and/or suggestions on how to make this section of the COHHIO web page a tool that can be used to exchange and share ideas.

HMIS Links
• Homeless Management Information Systems: An In-Depth Look
http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/Centers/SocPol/CSP_site/
publications/Consumer Report 1-3-01.PDF
• Homeless Service Tracking System Implementation Guide
http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/Centers/SocPol/CSP_site/
publications/Implementation Guide.PDF
• Using Administrative Data to Gauge Service Use Dynamics: Methods for Determining Incidence, Prevalence and Census Measures
http://www.med.upenn.edu/~cmhpsr/hdug/paper1_incidence.pdf
• Analyzing Shelter Stays and Shelter Stay Patterns Using Administrative Data: An Overview of Practical Methods
http://www.med.upenn.edu/~cmhpsr/hdug/ShelterStays.pdf
• Using Homeless Services Data to Document the Impacts of Welfare Reform
http://www.med.upenn.edu/~cmhpsr/hdug/2friedma.pdf

HMIS List Serv
If you are interested in joining a list serv specific to Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), please contact Rick Taylor via e-mail at ricktaylor@cohhio.org. This list serv is an opportunity to share ideas and exchange information regarding HMIS related issues.

Your Two Cents...
Believe it or not, it’s time to start planning for COHHIO’s 2002 Annual Conference. We want to know what you think. As it stands now, we will have space to accommodate up to six separate tracks, plus an additional AmeriCorps component. Right now, it looks as though we will offer four separate workshops per track. In addition, we will have space to accommodate up to four institutes. Please take a minute to complete this survey and return it to us as soon as possible.

Potential tracks could include: (please rank in order from 1 to 7, with 1 being your favorite and 7 being your least favorite)
• ____ Homeless youth
• ____ Affordable housing preservation
• ____ Poverty Issues
• ____ Mental health housing
• ____ Homelessness
• ____ Affordable housing
• ____ AmeriCorps (for members only)

Suggestions for workshop tracks other than those listed above:

Potential workshop topics could include:
• Life after foster care and independent living
• Tenant organizing 101
• TANF $ for housing…now what?
• Closing the Mental Health front door to homelessness
• Management information systems and homelessness
• Affordable housing, smart growth, and NIMBY
• Site safety and the use of volunteers

Suggestions for workshop topics other than those listed above:


Potential institute topics could include: (please rank in order from 1 to 4, with 1 being your favorite and 4 being your least favorite)
• ____ Affordable housing preservation
• ____ Poverty issues
• ____ Homelessness
• ____ Affordable housing

Suggestions for institutes other than those listed above:


We are also looking for suggestions regarding possible keynote speakers. For next year, we are considering sending invitations to the following individuals: Mel Martinez, HUD Secretary, Sheila Crowley, President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Barbara Ehrenreich, Author of Nickel-and-Dimed: On not getting by in America. If you have heard someone recently that you think might be a good fit for the COHHIO conference, please provide their name and organizational affiliation:


Please provide any general comments and/or suggestions regarding the 2002 Annual Conference:


Please return to: Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO); Attention: Rick Taylor; 35 East Gay Street, Suite 210; Columbus, Ohio 43215; p (614) 280-1984 / f (614) 463-1060; ricktaylor@cohhio.org by: September 28th, 2001.

 

 

City of Dayton Sued by Predatory Lenders...
On the heels of the passage of Ohio’s only city-wide ordinance designed to ban predatory lending, the Washington, DC-based American Financial Services Association (AFSA) sued the City of Dayton, claiming that the ordinance violates due process and home-rule provisions of the Ohio Constitution, and conflicts with state regulations governing financial transactions. The ordinance which, among other things, requires home mortgage lenders to disclose additional information when selling high-cost loans and bans certain loan provisions such as pre-payment penalties, was the first in the State of Ohio. According to an attorney with AFSA, the industry was concerned because the ordinance may “unfairly” grant Dayton residents with the right to sue lenders. What a strange concept this is...give people the right to sue someone that steals their house. Just another example of an industry that will stop at nothing to make a buck.

While things are on hold until next March (which is when suit is scheduled to go to trial), the City of Dayton should be commended for blazing the path. Ladies and gentleman, this is but a precursor of things to come. As we continue advocating for a comprehensive legislative remedy to predatory lending within the State of Ohio, the industry will continue fighting us at every turn. They have more money than we do. They have more expensive suits and ties than we do. They drive nicer cars than we do. That being said, we are on the right side of this issue. As one of my friends likes to put it...there are good guys and there are bad guys. We would be the good guys and they would be the bad guys.

 

 

Predatory Lending is Completely Legal in Ohio...
Did you know that it is illegal to steal someone’s car in the State of Ohio, but it’s entirely legal to steal someone’s home? That’s right. Predatory lending is not against the law within the State of Ohio...at least for the time being.

COHHIO has been actively involved in a statewide anti-predatory lending campaign. This campaign, known as the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending, includes representatives from several other statewide and community-based organizations. The ultimate objective of this campaign is to put predatory lenders out of business within the State of Ohio, by passing comprehensive statewide anti-predatory lending legislation.

Until practices such as charging exorbitant interest rates and points, financing single-premium credit life insurance into the loan, charging pre-payment penalties as a means by which to discourage the borrower from repaying the loan early, structuring loans with balloon payments without adequate disclosure to the borrower, and flipping or frequently refinancing the loan with no tangible benefit to the borrower are actually prohibited within the State of Ohio, there will be little if any incentive for predatory lenders to change their business practices. We are hopeful that this piece of legislation will be introduced sometime in late September or early October.

We need your help. On the following pages, you will find the Coalition’s Principles for Responsible Lending as well as an Endorsement Form. Between now and early fall, we are trying to get as many organizations as possible, signed on in favor of comprehensive statewide anti-predatory lending legislation. In fact, the goal is to have at least 500 organizations sign on as endorsers. Please complete and return the Endorsement Form as soon as possible. In addition, share this information with other community-based groups and encourage them to complete and return the Endorsement Form. Together, we will work to protect the communities of this state from predatory lenders.

 

Principles for Responsible Lending
Homeownership not only supplies families with shelter, it also provides a way to build wealth and economic security. Unfortunately, too many American homeowners are losing their homes, as well as the wealth they spent a lifetime building, because of abusive or predatory home equity lending practices. Some lenders target elderly, minority, and poor or uneducated borrowers with practices designed to strip the equity from their homes, trapping them in bad loans and creating a high risk of foreclosure. The following principles should govern attempts to eliminate predatory lending practices and protect family wealth within the State of Ohio:   

Limit fees charged borrowers, direct and indirect, to a reasonable amount. Points and fees (as defined by HOEPA) that exceed this amount (not including third party fees like appraisals) take more equity from borrowers than the cost or risk of subprime lending can justify. 

Prohibit the financing of up-front credit insurance for all loans.  One type of credit insurance, credit life, is paid by the borrower to repay the lender should the borrower die. The product can be useful when paid for on a monthly basis.  When it is paid for up-front, however, it does little more than strip equity from homeowners.

Prohibit back-end prepayment penalties on high-cost loans, since they act in an anti-competitive manner by keeping lenders from remedying abusive situations. Prepayment penalties trap borrowers in high-rate loans, which too often leads to foreclosure.  Why should any borrower be penalized for doing just what they are supposed to do -- namely, pay off a debt?

Take sufficient steps to address mortgage broker abuses. Brokers originate over half of all mortgage loans and a relatively small number of brokers are responsible for a large percentage of predatory loans.  Lenders should identify -- and avoid -- these brokers through comprehensive due diligence and should refuse to pay “yield-spread premiums” -- fees lenders rebate to brokers in exchange for placing a borrower in a higher interest rate than the borrower qualifies for. 

Prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses in any home loan.  Increasingly, lenders are placing mandatory binding arbitration clauses in their loan contracts. These clauses insulate unfair and deceptive practices by precluding court review and relegating consumers to a non-judicial forum where they cannot obtain injunctive relief against wrongful practices, proceed on behalf of a class, or obtain punitive damages. Many of these clauses bind the consumer, but not the lender.

Prohibit “flipping” of borrowers through repeated fee-loaded refinancings.  One of the worst practices is for lenders to refinance subprime loans over and over, taking out home equity wealth in the form of high fees each time, without providing the borrower with a net tangible benefit and often forcing payment of prepayment penalties. 

Prohibit back-end balloon payments on high-cost loans, since they are a hidden trap to the borrower, and rarely are they accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the interest rate. Some lenders originate loans containing balloon payments only to inform the borrower of this after closing to convince them to refinance.

Provide for a borrower in default a right to cure prior to foreclosure. By specifically setting forth what kind of notice the creditor must give and how the borrower may take advantage of their rights, the risk of foreclosure can be reduced.

Provide both civil and criminal penalties against all who engage in the aforementioned practices. This raises the bar and brings accountability to all who work in the home loan market by allowing claims and defenses to be raised against those who may buy the rights to the loan after the fact, but did not actually originate or fund the loan.

 

Endorsement Form - Principles for Responsible Lending
In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of mortgage loans made by lenders specializing in lending to borrowers with sub-par credit histories. These lenders, known as “subprime lenders,” are often times independent mortgage or finance companies, but they can also be thrifts or even banks. Some larger banks have affiliate mortgage companies that are subprime lenders. Subprime lenders typically charge borrowers higher fees and interest rates than “prime” lenders, based upon the risk of the loan.

What makes a sub-prime lender different from a predatory lender? While most sub-prime lenders serve a need by targeting borrowers with sub-par credit histories, some go too far. Those that go too far are know as predatory lenders. Lending practices become predatory when lenders target specific populations (usually low-income, minority, and/or elderly homeowners) with high pressure marketing techniques, charge excessive fees, frequently refinance or “flip” the loan, and often times mislead the borrower. Ohio is not immune to this practice. In low-and moderate-income and minority communities throughout the state, one or two predatory lenders often dominate the market, while prime lenders are nowhere to be found. These predatory lenders are literally harvesting the equity that homeowners have built up over the years.

The Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending is proposing that the following principles govern attempts to eliminate predatory lending practices and protect family wealth within the State of Ohio.

• Limit fees charged borrowers, direct and indirect, to a reasonable amount.
• Prohibit the financing of up-front single premium credit life insurance for all loans.
• Prohibit back-end prepayment penalties on high-cost loans, since they act in an anti-competitive manner by keeping lenders from remedying abusive situations.
• Take sufficient steps to address mortgage broker abuses, including prohibiting yield-spread premiums.
• Prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses in any home loan.
• Prohibit “flipping” of borrowers through repeated fee-loaded refinancings.
• Prohibit back-end balloon payments on high-cost loans, since they are a hidden trap to the borrower, and rarely are they accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the interest rate.
• Provide for a borrower in default a right to cure prior to foreclosure.
• Provide both civil and criminal penalties against all who engage in the aforementioned practices.

The undersigned organization hereby endorses these principles as a means to put an end to predatory mortgage lending practices within the State of Ohio. I hereby give my permission to use my name and/or organization as an endorser of the Principles for Responsible Lending.

Signature:
Contact Name:
Organization:
Address:
City, Zip Code, County:
Phone, Fax, E-mail:
Please return to:
COHHIO
Attn: Cathy Johnston 35 East Gay Street, Suite 210 Columbus, Ohio 43215
phone (614) 280-1984 - fax (614) 463-1060
www.cohhio.org/predatory.html.

 

 

Section 8 Funding to the Moon...
As most of you probably know, both the House and Senate have passed Fiscal Year 2002 HUD appropriations bills. In spite of attempts on the part of Congress' more progressive members, the budgets passed are problematic for a couple of reasons.

First, Congress has worked out some goofy deal regarding Section 8 rescissions and recaptures. As is typically the case, Congress has said that it will rescind an estimated $615 million from the Section 8 program. Beyond that, they decided that any funds budgeted in 2002 or any previous year that HUD manages to recapture, would be transferred out of the Section 8 program. In fact, most of these funds would be transferred out of HUD altogether. It is estimated that as much as 80 percent of these funds could be split between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation. The remaining 20 percent would be transferred to either the HOME program or “housing for special populations” programs.

Second, Congress has agreed with the Bush Administration and reduced the Public Housing Authority's (PHA's) reserves from two months to one month. Bottom line, PHA’s might not be able to re-issue vouchers as quickly resulting in fewer families receiving assistance. In fact, the House bill includes language that restricts HUD's ability to shift reserve funds from PHA’s that do not need them to PHA’s that face higher costs. Although the Senate bill does not contain this restrictive language, it contains another provision, which would deprive HUD of a potential mechanism to shift unused reserves to PHA’s that need additional funds.

After Congress returns from its summer vacation, the HUD budget will go to Conference Committee. As it stands right now, our very own Senator DeWine will represent the Senate on the Conference Committee. It is critical that he hear from those of us in the affordable housing world regarding these two important issues.

If you have a few minutes to spare, please contact either his Washington, DC office or one of his district offices and relay the following messages: recaptured funds from the Section 8 program should stay in the Section 8 program, and cutting PHA reserves in half is bad public policy.

Senator DeWine has been good on affordable housing issues over the past couple of years. That record, at least in part, is a result of our work. It is critical that he hear from us again. A two or three minute phone call could be the difference between housing funding going to housing or going to the moon.

Here are the numbers for Senator DeWine's offices:

DC office: (202) 224-2315
Columbus: (614) 469-5186
Cincinnati: (513) 763-8260
Cleveland: (216) 522-7272
Toledo: (419) 259-7536
Marietta: (740) 373-2317
Xenia: (937) 376-3080.

 

 

Unlevel Playing Field?
As most of you probably know, one of the priorities for the Bush Administration over the past several months has been its “Faith-based Initiative.” Part of this initiative required five cabinet departments (Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Labor, and Justice) to create Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Each Center was required to conduct a department-wide audit to identify all existing barriers to the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the delivery of social services, including but not limited to regulations, rules, orders, procurement, and other internal policies and practices, and outreach activities that either facially discriminate against or otherwise discourage or disadvantage the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in federal programs.

Last month, the Administration released the findings of these audits. Unlevel Playing Field: Barriers to Participation by Faith-Based and Community Organizations in Federal Social Service Programs, found among other things, that “nonprofit organizations that administer social services funded by Washington are typically large and entrenched, in an almost monopolistic fashion.”

According to the report, the federal grants system is intended to put taxpayer dollars to the most effective use by enlisting the best non-governmental groups to provide various social services, either through discretionary grants (also called competitive grants) awarded directly by federal officials, or through formula grants (including block grants) administered by state and local governments. The funds should go to the providers who can provide the most effective assistance and who can boast the best civic outcomes. The Federal Government, however, has little idea of the actual effect of the billions of social service dollars it spends directly or sends to state and local governments. The policies and practices of federal grants programs too often make it difficult or impossible for faith-based and grassroots groups to gain support, even though they may have superior results in lifting lives and healing distressed neighborhoods.

The report went on to identify some 15 different barriers, including everything from the denial of faith-based organizations’ established right to take religion into account in employment decisions to an inappropriate requirement to apply in collaboration with likely competitors.

The report concludes with the following...No faith-based service group has an automatic right to obtain federal funding either through direct discretionary grants or through state and local governments’ provision of federal formula grants. Similarly, community-based organizations have no automatic right to federal funding. But both faith-based and community organizations should have an equal opportunity to obtain such funding, if they choose to seek it. A sensible, results-driven policy requires the government to examine outcomes -that is, what an organization achieves with the funds - rather than to the character of the organization. That is, whether it is “too religious,” or “secular enough.” Federal agencies should use grants to underwrite the most effective programs. Because grassroots organizations, sacred and secular, are close to, and trusted by communities, families, and individuals in need, the federal grants process should welcome rather than discourage the contributions of such groups that offer effective programs.

The federal grants process, despite a few exceptions and a growing sensitivity to and openness toward both faith-based and community groups, does more to discourage than to welcome the participation of faith-based and community groups. That is the overwhelming message trumpeted in the reports of the Centers for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives at HUD, HHS, Justice, Education, and Labor. Too much is done that discourages or actually excludes good organizations that simply appear “too religious,” too little is done to include groups that meet local needs with vigor and creativity but are not as large, established, or bureaucratic as the traditional partners of the federal government. This is not the best way for government to fulfill its responsibilities to come to the aid of needy families, individuals, and communities.

While the motives for this new initiative along with some of the report’s findings might be suspect, the fact of the matter remains that faith-based organizations within the State of Ohio have played and will continue to play a critical role in helping the government fulfill its responsibilities. The problems we are facing today are more than either the secular or faith-based communities can solve alone. It does little good to get caught up in who’s going to get a bigger piece of an ever-shrinking pie (secular organizations or faith-based organizations) when nearly two million Ohioans cannot afford a safe and decent place to call home. For more information, please visit the White House web site at: www.whitehouse.gov.

 

 

Big Surprise...the Rich are Getting Richer
Earlier this year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released results of a study that examined the income disparity between this country’s rich and poor. The CBO found that between 1979 to 1997, the average after-tax income of the poorest 20 percent of U.S. households was stagnant. In fact, this group’s average after-tax income fell by $100 (adjusted for inflation and expressed in 1997 dollars). For the middle fifth of households, average after-tax income rose a modest 10 percent over this 18-year period (an average of about one-half of one percent per year), or $3,400. By contrast, average after-tax income climbed 157 percent - or $414,000 - among the top one percent of households. As a result, income disparities between rich and poor - and between the rich and the middle class - were much wider in 1997 than at any other time in the period examined.

In addition to the information on income trends, the study also provides the most comprehensive data available on federal tax burdens over the past two decades. The study includes data from 1979 through 2001 on the percentage of income that each income group pays in federal taxes. The CBO study highlights one striking finding in this area - the percentage of income that Americans pay in federal taxes declined between 1979 and 2001 among every income group. Furthermore, the study reports that “Households in the top one percent of the distribution had the largest percentage-point fall in effective tax rates” (i.e., in the percentage of income paid in federal taxes). Thus, even before enactment of tax legislation that will provide very large tax cuts to the top one percent of households, that group already has received larger federal tax reductions over the past 22 years than any other income group.

The tax legislation President Bush signed into law will accelerate the trends of growing income disparities between the wealthiest individuals and other Americans. The average percentage gain in after-tax income that will result from the legislation will be about three times greater for those in the top one percent of the income distribution than for those in the middle of the income spectrum, and more than seven times greater than the average percentage gain among the bottom fifth of the population. After-tax income disparities, already larger now than at any other time in more than two decades, will widen further as a result of the tax legislation.

The CBO data cover nearly two decades. These data show that the income gains among those at the top of the income spectrum greatly outpaced the gains among all other income groups throughout the 1979-1997 period. Between 1979 and 1997, average income stagnated among the bottom part of the population, increased modestly for the middle of the population, and soared among those at the top of the income spectrum.
More specifically:

The bottom fifth of households had average after-tax income of $10,800 in 1997. In 1979, their average income stood at $10,900. (As noted, CBO has adjusted these figures for inflation and expressed them in 1997 dollars);

Among the middle fifth of the population, average after-tax income rose by 10 percent - or about half a percentage point a year - from 1979 to 1997, climbing from $33,800 to $37,200;

By contrast, the average after-tax income of the top fifth of households jumped by more than half, and the average after-tax income of the top one percent of the population rose a stunning 157 percent. The average after-tax income of the top one percent of the population climbed from $263,700 in 1979 to $677,900 in 1997; and

The average household in the top one percent of the population had $414,000 more in after-tax income in 1997 than its counterpart had in 1979. The average household in the middle of the population was $3,400 better off in 1997 than its 1979 counterpart. The average household in the bottom fifth of the population was no better off than its 1979 counterpart. Those with the highest incomes are far better off in 1997 than those with the highest incomes were two decades ago, but this statement does not apply to low- and middle-income households.

As a result, the gaps between the top and the middle of the income distribution are much larger now than they were at the end of the 1970's, as are the gaps between the top and the bottom of the income distribution. After-tax income disparities were larger in 1997 than in any other year measured by CBO - and dramatically larger than they were two decades ago. Bottom line, the rich are getting richer.

To learn more about the study or to obtain a copy of the findings, please visit the Congressional Budget Office web site at: www.cbo.gov and click on Tax Analysis under the Studies and Reports header.


Housing Tax Credit Workshop in Cleveland
September 24th and 25th, 2001
Sponsored by: Key Bank and Simon Publications
Learn how the newly expanded housing tax credit program with some new rules can be used and combined in creative ways with other available funds to produce affordable rental housing in Cleveland and Ohio.

Learn how tax credits with tax-exempt financing can help leverage significant funding to provide additional affordable housing opportunities for families and individuals.

Learn what it takes to obtain tax credits and other needed funding, and what it takes to provide housing for our neediest families.

Questions? Call 301/320-5771. For any registration after September 19th, call 216/689-7404.

 

 

Look for COHHIO in the Following Workplace Campaigns
Combined Federal Campaigns - September - October
Central Ohio
Cincinnati Metropolitan Area
Lima Area
Miami Valley
North Central Ohio
Northeast Ohio
Stark County Area
Southeastern Ohio
Trumbull County
Youngstown/Mahoning Valley

State of Ohio Combined Charitable Campaign - September 6 - October 26

Franklin County - September 10 - October 19

City of Columbus - September 10 - October 22

Ohio State University - September 17 - November 9


Private Workplace Campaigns include:

CNA Insurance
Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority
COTA
Delphia Carr
Ohio Civil Service Employees Association
Southeast Mental Health
USA Today


Please look for COHHIO in any of these listed campaigns under the Greater Columbus Community Shares (GCCS) Federation, and consider pledging to COHHIO.

For more information on the campaigns, how to become a workplace donor, or how to be a participating workplace, please contact Susan Francis at COHHIO at 614/280-1984 or by email at susanfrancis@cohhio.org.

 

 

Helpful Financial Sites
• www.nonprofit.about.com - Nonprofit management: Directs reader to other websites for information. E-mails a weekly newsletter containing updates to the website.
• www.philanthropy.com - Nonprofit management with emphasis on fundraising.
• www.ncnb.org - National Center for Nonprofit Boards: Great information about nonprofits and their boards.
• www.nonprofitfinancial.org - Nonprofit Financial Center: Information about financial management & nonprofits.
• www.npower.org - Npower: Great information about nonprofits & technology. Has a “benchmarking” or self-evaluation tool re: e-mail, websites & more.
• www.nonprofitrisk.org - Nonprofit Risk Management Center: Great information about insurance and risk management, newsletter.
• www.odod.state.oh.us - Ohio Department of Development
• www.hud.gov - US Department of Housing & Urban Development
• www.whitehouse.gov/omb - US Office of Management & Budget: OMB Circulars, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, Compliance Supplement.
• www.gpo.access.gov - Federal Register, Federal Statutes, Code of Federal Regulations.
• ww.irs.gov - IRS forms & publications.
• www.guidestar.com - IRS form 990.
• www.nonprofit.gov - Nonprofit gateway to federal government websites of interest to nonprofits.

Prepared by Melonie Buller, CPA, for COHHIO's Fiscal Management Training held earlier this year.

In addition, the November 2000 issue of the Journal of Accountancy offers a detailed analysis of the top ten accounting software packages for nonprofits, including Blackbaud, Fund E-Z, and Sungard. Access the entire article at www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/nov2000/jones.htm.

 

 

Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio Membership
Name
Organization
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone, Fax, County
Individual: _____ $35 (Regular) _____ $75 (Benefactor) _____ $250
(Sustainer) _____ $10 (Low-Income) _____ Fee Waiver Requested
Agency (according to budget): _____ $35 (100,000 or less)
_____ $75 (100,001-250,000)
_____ $125 (250,001-500,000) _____ $200 (500,001-1 million)
_____ $250 ($1 million-$1.5 million) _____ $300 (over $1.5 million)

Please send your tax deductible check to COHHIO at 35 E. Gay St, Ste. 210, Columbus, Ohio 43215.
Thank you for your support!

 

Resources
TRAININGS
Finance Professional Certification Program. Dec. 3 - 7 - ED 300: The Art of Deal Structuring. Integrates the business credit and real estate finance skills learned in the previous weeks with the creative demands of deal structuring. Questions should be directed to Mary Dupler, OHCP Publications Specialist, at 614/466-2285.  

2001 Lead Abatement Training. The training is designed to provide lead abatement contractors/supervisors, lead abatement workers, lead inspectors and lead risk assessors with practical, lead-based paint abatement information and with the opportunity to participate in hands-on skill-based lead-abatement activities. The registration fee for each of the courses if $100. For more information, contact Tom Sherman, OHCP, at 614/466-2285 or Mike Keyes, COAD, at 740/594-8499.
Residential Lead Abatement for Supervisors/Contractors - Oct. 15-19 (Akron), Nov. 5-9 (Findlay)
Residential Lead Hazard Abatement for Workers - Oct. 30-Nov. 2 (Athens)  

FIRSTLINK Trainings: • Volunteer Management Series - 6 three hour sessions - $150 for series or $40 per session. 1) Introduction to Volunteer Management - October 4; Planning a Volunteer Management Program - October 18; 3) Program Components and Materials - November 1; 4) Volunteer Motivation - November 15; 5) Interviewing, Screening and Placement of Volunteers - November 29; and 6) Evaluate, Review and Renew Your Program - December 6. • Create a Financially Sound Organization (3 part - $85): 1) Grantsmanship - Basic - October 16 - $35; 2) Financials Made User Friendly - November 8 - $30; Develop a Case Statement for Fundraising - December 13 - $30. • Self Help (2 parts - $40): Violence in the Workplace - October 17 - $25; and Assertiveness Training - October 23 - $25. • Board Strengthening (3 parts - $80): 1) Board Duties and Responsibilities; 2) Building a Better Board; and 3) Board Risk Management. • Identifying and Removing Roadblocks to More Successful Nonprofit Selling - October 10 - $35. • Media Interviewing Techniques - October 11 - $25. • How to Start a Nonprofit - October 19 & 26 - attendance at both sessions required - $75. • Making Your Organization More Effective - October 25 - $35. • Bulk Mailing for Novices - October 30 - $20. • Understanding Persons with Disabilities - November 14 - $25. • Relationships in the Nonprofit Arena - November 28 - $45.   For more information, contact the FIRSTLINK Training Department at 614/221-6766.  

CDC Trainings
Community Economic Development: Funding and Financing for CED - Oct. 17-18; and Introduction to CED - Oct. 3-5 and Dec. 5-6

Micro-Enterprise Development: Advanced Micro-lending - Oct. 11

Ohio CDC Annual Conference - Oct. 31 - Nov. 2
For more information, contact the Ohio CDC Association at 614/461-6392 or ohiocdc@ohiocdc.org.


2001 Workers’ Compensation University - October 2 - Dayton; October 10 - Cleveland; October 18 - Toledo; and October 24 - Cincinnati. Free. Visit the BWC website for more information, www.ohiobwc.com.  

October 2-4 - Developing Financial Projections, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Cleveland. Will cover the concepts and tools used in projecting the financial statements of CFIs, as well as issues related to preparing and assessing financial projections. For more information, contact the Dickerson Knight Group at 718/624-4596 or visit www.thinkdkg.com.  

October 11-12, Building Doctors, Ohio Historical Society, Chagrin Falls. Will teach old-building owners how to recognize and solve some of the most common source of problems in maintaining older buildings. Also will make rounds of ailing buildings within five miles of the host community to examine problems and prescribe cures. The clinics and consultations are free. To register, call 800/499-2470.

October 13 -16 - Building Assets: Keys to Strengthening Homeless Education, National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, Detroit, Michigan. The conference goals are to enable participants to: identify emerging legislative issues and priorities; showcase exemplary homeless education outreach strategies; provide opportunities to visit local programs; network, dialogue and share resources with service providers and advocates; and re-energize collective efforts to serve homeless families, children and youth. Registration - $235. For more information contact the Michigan Department of Education, Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program at 517/373-6057.

October 14-17 - American Association of Service Coordinators National Training and Network Conference, Buffalo, New York. For more information, visit www.servicecoordinator.org.    

November 5-6 - Housing First: Ending and Preventing Family Homelessness, Beyond Shelter and National Alliance to End Homelessness, Washington, DC. The "housing first" approach advocates for the immediate relocation of homeless families into permanent housing, followed by up to one year of home-based support after the move to help families stabilize. For more information, call Beyond Shelter at 213/252-0772, ext. 222 or visit their web page at www.beyondshelter.org.  

November 7 - 9 - Community: A Capital Idea, The Enterprise Foundation Annual Network Conference, Washington, DC. The three-day event will teach organizations to more efficiently and more effectively administer programs for low-income neighborhoods. Specialities include: building, financing and operating housing, developing and delivering child care, safety and employment programs, using Low Income Housing Tax Credits, increasing economic development and other issues vital to community development. Registration - $250 - $425. For more information, visit www.enterprisefoundation.org.  

November 19-20 - 2001 Ohio Housing Conference, Columbus. Sponsored by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing. Check the OCCH website - www.occh.org - and the OHFA website - www.odod.state.oh.us/ohfa - for more details.

December 5-8 - We Can Do This! Ending Homelessness for People with Mental Illnesses and/or Substance Use Disorders - A National Training Conference, Washington, DC. Information on training topics, registration and CEUs will be available in early Fall. For more information, contact National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness at 800/444-7415 or visit their website at www.prainc.com/nrc.

Ebase, a free application developed by FileMaker, Inc., is a fundraising, donor contact, and membership database for nonprofits. Visit www.ebase.org for your copy.

HUD Materials. Recent Research Results latest issue include article on Meeting Seniors’ Rural Housing Needs, Why Housing in Rural America Matters and HUD’s Welfare to Work Vouchers. It is available at www.huduser.org/periodicals/rrr.html. The Urban Research Monitor’s recent topics include “Revitalizing Inner-City Neighborhoods,” and is available at www.huduser.org/periodicals/urm/urm_06_2001/urm.html. Two mortgage default publications - “Assessing Problems of Default in Local Mortgage Markets” and “Neighborhood Effects in Mortgage Default Risk.” To order these publications, visit www.huduser.org/publications/hsgfin/defloc.html and www.huduser.org/publications/hsgfin/defaultrisk.html

From a recent issue of Shelterforce...In Orange County, a 90-unit affordable housing development is proposed for entry-level professors at California State University at Fullerton. Homes will be sold to professors with annual incomes of $45,000 - $80,000 - which qualifies them for affordable housing. According to the Orange County Register, neighbors are concerned about the impact that this “affordable housing” development could have on their property values.

 

Office Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the science of arranging and adjusting the work environment to fit the person. By reviewing ergonomic principles and applying them to each individual’s workstation, comfort and productivity may be improved, while physical stresses and potential injuries can be reduced. The following focuses on the computer workstation and how you can modify it to achieve these goals.

Ergonomic Checkpoints:
• Adjust chair height and back, so feet are flat on the floor, and forearms and wrists are straight at keyboard level. You may need to have a footrest due to height of chair/desk/keyboard arrangement.
• The top of the monitor should be at or below eye level - slightly lower for those wearing bifocals. The monitor should be 18 to 24 inches from the eyes.
• Locate the keyboard directly in front of the monitor at proper height to keep wrists straight and relaxed with a padded wrist rest in front of the keyboard and forearms parallel to floor.
• Place the document holder at the same height and distance at the monitor to reduce head movement and eyestrain.
• Indirect lighting used to avoid glare on the screen. Place the monitor at a right angle to a window or use shades to block sunlight; use a glare shield if all other glare-reducing options are exhausted.
• Place other equipment within easy reach - mouse, phone, notepad, etc.
• Place mouse next to keyboard to minimize reaching.
• Provide leg room under desk - allow room to stretch out and change leg positions.

Take breaks and exercise:
• Take frequent mini-breaks; don’t continue for hours at a time.
• Vary tasks.
• Readjust your posture and leg position often. Let your arms fall to your sides and gently shake arms and hands for 10 seconds. Repeat.
• Close your eyes, take a deep breath and hold for three seconds. Repeat.
• Perform several slow deep winks, then look away and focus on some object more than 10 feet away.
• Drop your head forward then rotate it slowly in a circle three times left, then three times right to relieve neck tightness.
• Hold your arms up at shoulder height and push your elbows back. Hold for a few seconds and repeat to relieve upper back tension.

Reprinted from Safety Leader’s Discussion Guide 2001, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

(614) 280-1984 Voice
(614) 463-1060 Fax

cohhio@cohhio.org