Workforce Housing Grant Program
In 2024, the City of Sisters Urban Renewal Agency (URA) established this workforce housing program to offer eligible agencies and private developers grant and/or loan funds for purposes of constructing and offering "workforce" housing to low-and moderate-income persons in the URA boundary of Sisters.
Workforce housing is defined as "housing reserved for occupancy by eligible households and affordable to households whose annual income is at or above eighty percent (80%) of area median income for Deschutes County and does not exceed 150 percent of area median income, adjusted for household size, and no more than 30 percent of the monthly household income is paid for monthly housing expenses. (Housing expenses for ownership housing include mortgage and mortgage insurance, property taxes, property insurance, and homeowner dues. Housing expenses for rental housing include rent and appropriate utility allowance.)"
Eligibility Information
Eligible Applicants: The applicant must be (a.) a housing authority, (b.) a qualified nonprofit organization that constructs affordable housing, or (c.) a for-profit developer of workforce housing for low- and moderate-income households.
Other Eligibility Requirements: The applicant must demonstrate compliance with all eligibility requirements in the establishing ordinance (which can be found below) including, without limitation: the project for which program funds are sought must be an eligible qualified project (as defined in the resolution) and the applicant must apply for program funds on the City’s current program application (see application below).
Deadline: Each application must be filed with the city no later than April 1, 2024. The City of Sisters URA will review the applications and determine whether to fund the projects and, if so, how much funds will be awarded to applicants. If funding is approved, the funds will be budgeted and awarded in the following fiscal year (July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025).
Applications
For more information on this program see the Resolution and Exhibit A below, or contact Scott Woodford, Community Development Director at swoodford@ci.sisters.or.us or call 51-323-5211.
