RCAC Home Page > News and Publications > Self-Help Builder News October 2012 Volume 5, Issue #3 >

The fix is not in . . .

By Stanley Keasling, RCAC chief executive officer

I wish I could tell you that the fix to the rural definition is safely within the Continuing Resolution (CR), but it is not. Neither Congress nor the Administration agreed to include the fix in their version of the CR, and that is the only piece of legislation that they managed to move before adjourning till after the election. We have gotten our message out, 100 members of the House have signed onto the “dear colleague” letter sponsored by Congressman Fortenberry. The Senate has said they will include a fix in the Farm Bill, if one can be moved during the lame duck session of Congress after the election. Rural Development will delay the implementation of the census data until the end of March, 2013. We hope we can resolve this issue by then.

We have started to see attrition in the ranks of western 523 grantees. We expect to have at least seven organizations shut down their 523 programs this year. Working in concert with the other regional contractors, we have secured authorization to replace grantees as organizations decide to leave the program. In the past, we have worked with a number of organizations to help them assume an existing grant, but we have now instigated a replacement grantee strategy. Replacement grantees do not necessarily serve the same geography as a prior grantee. There is a preference to maintain the number of grantees in a state, but there is a queue of organizations interested in starting a 523 program and a desire to keep 523 funds utilized. Several applications were submitted in September and funding announcements will be made soon.

Comments

You must be logged in to comment. Login or Register

PowerOfChoice wrote:

The “FIX” to rural definition? Do you not mean the item which would increase the definition of rural development as noted in the Senate Farm Bill whereby asking for a population level of 35,000 to be considered rural. Sorry … that would be a small city and our country which is currently 16+ Trillion dollars in debt does not nor should not consider such an option. The program was implemented to insure small rural communities were assisted until they reached a point of being self-sufficient and not to become a Welfare Program for self-sufficient communities wanting more.

Also, the Mutual Self Help Housing Program has potentially become corrupt and abusive. In my state they are not supposed to obtain property by fraud or misrepresentation, engage in any unfair or deceptive practice towards any person, or defraud any person. A prime example of how Americans are having their life savings and property investments ruined you can consider the following: http://thebusinesstimes.com/public-funding-private-housing-homeowner-raise-concerns-over-land-purchases-for-affordable-housing-2/ . Per this article the owner put $384,000 into their house and after their Property Rights were violated sold for $245,000.

Report Abuse

Sunday, December 2, 2012 7:04 PM

 

Register with RCAC.org

* Required Fields

• Your Information

  • * First Name
  • * Last Name
  • * Display Name

    This is the name that others will see when you post a comment.

  • * Email Address
  • * Password
  • * Confirm Password
  • Organization/Agency