JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Thursday, April 26, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE n $1 million in loans approved by the Legislature for housing infrastructure will be disbursed based on a community's needs and a project's affordability, according to draft rules prepared by the Wyoming Business Council.
The draft rules, released Wednesday, will determine how the new program will be run.
The Business Council board will discuss the rules during a teleconference meeting at 10 am. Monday, April 30.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal, meanwhile, said Wednesday he continues to lobby the Legislature to put more money into the program next year.
"We couldn't get the Legislature to bite this session,on housing" Freudenthal said during a news conference Wednesday.
"They made a little gesture but they made sure it wasn't enough to do much," he added.
"They passed a long statute and gave one million bucks," he added.
He said there are developers who will build houses but won't pay for sewer and water lines and other infrastructure needs.
In Rock Springs, he said, about 3,000 houses have been planned and approved but need public funding for services to the lot line.
He blamed the shortcomings of the financing on to the Legislature's "unwillingness to get around their dislike of cities and counties" and put money out to build the curbs, sewers and gutters and water lines.
The housing draft rules do not contain a dollar figure to define "affordability."
Steve Achter, director of the business council's investment ready communities program, said the rule drafters left that up to each community.
"We think the communities will have their own concept of what is affordable for their community," Achter said.
The concept of the draft rules, he said, was to frame them based on the state statutes and comments of legislators during the session last winter.
The rules allow loans to a county, incorporated city or town, special improvement districts and joint powers boards.
The business council will make recommendations on the loans to the State Loan and Investment Board that includes the governor and the other four elected officials.
Toward the end of the legislative session last winter, Senate President John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, said, he, too, was disappointed the Legislature didn't allocate more money for the housing program.
But he also pointed out that by the time the rules are drafted and put out for public comment, there will be time for one pilot project that the Legislature can then review in the budget session in February.
The draft rules say the loans can be used for rights of way, sewer and water projects, storm water control, streets, roads, bridges, curbs, gutters and sidewalks, lift stations, traffic signals and street lighting, and purchase of land needed to accommodate the project..
The projects must have constraints to prevent unduly enriching a developer or builder and to prevent speculators from buying a house in order to quickly sell at a profit, among other safeguards.