The following are articles and reports on the web that the Community and Economic Development Program at the UNC School of Government read or shared through social media over the past month. Follow us on twitter or facebook to receive regular updates.
Items of interest related to CED in North Carolina:
This National Low Income Housing Coalition report finds that in NC, for every 100 extremely low income households, only 43 affordable units are available. https://t.co/SgBMnMIeBK
House Bill 399, if enacted, would extend the NC Historic Preservation Tax Credit until 2030, raise credit caps, and offer a bonus in disaster recovery areas. http://bit.ly/2TRrMUg
Pisgah Legal Services attorney Robin Merrill discusses evictions in Asheville on the State of Things. https://t.co/WMXQr6U8Hy
Richard Florida writes about the profit margins earned by landlords in high poverty neighborhoods. In middle income areas, rents cover 10% of the housing cost (can be paid off in 10 years). But in high poverty areas, rents cover 25%. http://bit.ly/2TUP3Vq
DFI Online:
Credit Union National Association recognizes credit union professionals for excellence, including an award related to DFI. https://t.co/j3a6uxFvkl
Lumberton City Council hears from DFI and others about plans to build affordable housing for low income persons in disaster recovery areas. https://t.co/WdUXuf1LFf
DFI’s work with the City of Kannapolis is seeing tangible results. The VIDA project breaks ground, bringing residential, retail, parking, and more to downtown. http://bit.ly/2V67vHe and http://bit.ly/2TIDZ8B
An article in the News & Observer referred to a university audit completed in May 2017 about administrative oversight and procurement during a former DFI director’s tenure. The audit found no misuse of university funds, but recommended corrective actions, all of which were implemented by the current DFI director, who started in June 2017. The auditor reviewed DFI’s conflict of interest process and made no findings about DFI projects because all were handled satisfactorily. The auditor performed a routine follow-up in 2018 and confirmed that all corrections had been made and no further audit work was required. The article focused on redactions made to the audit by the University Public Records Office. The audit involved a former university employee; due to privacy protections for the former employee, the university redacted the employee’s name and identifying information, and university personnel cannot discuss the details of the audit due to privacy protections for the former employee. The final section of the article describes a private development project in Fayetteville. That private development project is not a DFI project and is not mentioned in the university audit. newsobserver.com: http://bit.ly/2JHYjHK
Last month’s edition of “What @sog_ced is reading….”
https://ced.sog.unc.edu/what-sog_ced-is-reading-february-2019/
Compiled by Francine Stefan