Northwest Indiana could join affordable housing program

Northwest Indiana could work with the Fort Wayne Housing Authority on an affordable housing program.

The Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission’s Economy and Place Committee voted Wednesday to support the Hoosier Homes homebuyer assistance program administered by the Fort Wayne agency.

The program aims to expand the availability of safe and affordable housing options to qualified borrowers.

The housing authority works to provide competitive mortgage lending through three federal agencies – Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – by offering down payment and closing cost assistance for the purchase of new and existing homes.

The support of the NIRPC committee will send the resolution to the full committee.

Heather Presley-Cowen, who works with Valparaiso Community Housing Partners, said Gary started a similar program several years ago. She suggests extending it to the entire region.

When this type of program is limited to a single city, it adds extra work for bankers trying to arrange home loans because they have to verify whether an address is actually within city limits, she said.

Union Township Trustee George Topoll, who chairs the NIRPC committee, noted that expanding housing choice is a goal of the NIRPC regional plan.

What he likes about expanding the program from Fort Wayne to Northwest Indiana is that it won’t cost NIRPC anything while still filling a need in the region.

Presley-Cowen worked with the new Valparaiso group to fill the “missing middle”: housing for working people with household incomes up to 140 percent of the median income. For Valparaiso, that’s about $140,000, she said.

Cook County, Illinois has a similar program to Fort Wayne. Within 30 days of launch, more than 2,000 home buyers used the Cook County platform, she said.

“I’ve looked at this program very well over the last couple of years now,” Valparaiso City Councilman Robert Cotton said. He wants a “transparent and simple” application process. NIRPC’s involvement would include promoting the program to ensure people are aware of the help available to them.

Communities and others could contribute to a down payment assistance fund if they wished. Employers could also contribute to ensure their workers have adequate housing nearby, Presley-Cowen said. Terre Haute contributed $500,000, she said.

“We’re not trying to give anything away. You have to qualify for a mortgage,” Cotton said.

The program involves a second lien on the home that dissolves after seven years. The lien payment is prorated in the event the owner sells before the end of the seven years.

NIRPC Transportation Director Tom Vander Woude said the agreement with the Fort Wayne agency would mean NIRPC would not have an administrative role.

NIRPC could get quarterly reports to see how the rollout is going, Presley-Cowen said.

Separately, Director of Environmental Programs Kathy Luther briefed the committee on a comprehensive climate action plan covering the entire Chicago region, including Northwest Indiana. NIRPC is working with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning on the plan, which must be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by December 1.

The plan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Luther’s presentation focused on buildings, which accounted for 35% of emissions in the 2020 greenhouse gas inventory.

Across the region, the plan aims to reduce overall emissions by 85% by 2050. Between 2005 and 2020, emissions have already fallen by 20%, but another 65% is needed.

“This plan is not legally binding in any way. I think at this point it’s pretty ambitious,” she said.

The key to achieving building reduction would be weatherproofing existing buildings, increasing the use of electric heat pumps for space and water heating and induction cookers for commercial use, which would involve reducing reliance on natural gas.

Under current policies, emissions are on track to be reduced by 36% by 2050, Luther said. With state and local initiatives, this reduction could reach 61%.

For buildings, the plan aims to reduce residential emissions by 26% and commercial emissions by 12%. Further reduction would come from cleaner ways of generating electricity.

Establishing building performance standards is one way to address this problem. “This has been adopted in Colorado with great success,” Luther said. Additionally, Oak Park, Illinois requires new homes to be all-electric.

Unlike Illinois, Indiana does not allow local governments to set their own building standards. However, local redevelopment commissions could encourage businesses to improve their energy efficiency through a program that would work much like grants for facade improvements, Luther said.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.