Good morning and welcome to the pre-agenda interviews for Wednesday, October 21st, two thousand twenty-six for the Housing Opportunity Fund Advisory Board.

Would a clerk please read the title of the bill?

Bill eight fifty-three resolution appointing Jennifer Cash Wade to the Housing Opportunity Fund Advisory Board with the time to expire, September sixth, two thousand and thirty.

Thank you.

For the record, we're currently joined by Councilman Woolwick.

What we'll do is we'll turn over to Miss Cash Wade.

If you would simply introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about yourself and why you want to serve on this board, and then we'll open it up for questions.

So I'm familiar with um, you know, real estate, uh, the buying and selling of it uh in that on that level.

I worked for nine years as first the assistant operations manager, then the operations manager uh at the Department of Real Estate, formerly, of course, the recorder of these.

With that, I'll open it up to questions from members.

Councilman World.

Um yeah, thank you.

And thanks for your willingness to serve and sit on the sit on this advisory board.

Um I'm not sure if you've heard, but sort of in in the news and with the the city's financial situation, there has been um there's been talk of not funding the housing opportunity fund next year and also uh even potentially eliminating it altogether, which is very concerning to me given the um the really critical programs that it that it supports, right?

Everything from gap financing for affordable housing projects that's really enabled us to get a huge number of LITEC deals here in the city uh over the past years, um uh as well as you know, emergency rental assistance, um help for for homeowners with home repairs and uh and eviction prevention.

So I guess I just wanted to I'm I'm curious um in in your experience, well, w whether you have experience directly with neighbors who have taken advantage of these funds or just generally though if those your perspective on those issues and the need for the city to continue providing support in in Bell Tuber.

Yes, um I definitely have there are uh several, I I was gonna say many, but but there are um there are several residents in the community that have taken advantage of different housing programs that are currently uh operating in the city.

We have uh they there is of course um the housing opportunity fund, uh the funds that uh other funding sources that the URA provides that have allowed residents to purchase homes that have been rehabbed.

Uh and I'm sure that some of the funds that were used for the rehab were uh uh HOF funds and other sources of funds uh through the URA, through um state grants, through you know, other local grants.

So, yes, to have those funds available for communities such as Belt Sever is uh it's it's imperative because uh we partnered with uh the Pittsburgh Housing Development Corporation to rehab five houses in our community that sold very quickly, and that would not they could not the rehab could not have occurred without uh the support of the different funding sources, and the buyers certainly could not have been able to purchase the homes.

The homes are all um uh the pricing is they're affordable, and by that there are you know certain income levels that you must be in to be eligible to purchase the homes.

And the whole uh you know purpose is to uh uh give folks who might not ordinarily be able to purchase, and not because they don't have good credit, not because they don't have you know uh jobs, um very well-paying jobs, some you know, you just kind of living paycheck to paycheck like so many, but because there are uh closing costs that are very expensive.

There are down payments that are required, and those have been we found stumbling blocks to a lot of people who have the money who are paying an enormous amount of rent and paying their own utilities.

They're doing everything but paying taxes and paying homeowners insurance.

So to transfer them into homeownership, I mean it's just uh a kind of a natural thing, and to have small things prevent them from being able to do that is um you know it's a travesty.

And so programs like housing opportunity fund, like the URA's for sale development project, like um, you know, support from the housing authority, all of those programs benefit both communities and residents.

Yeah, absolutely.

I'm glad you mentioned that.

That's also another important piece of the housing opportunity fund is the is the homeowner, the down payment assistance program.

That's been a very, very popular program that's done, done very well with those funds.

Um I think too, it's uh, you know, when we talk about this uh sort of this idea that you know the housing opportunity fund is like an extra uh or somehow something that we're doing extra.

I that's not actually the case, right?

Because if my understanding is correct, I can um can council president can correct me, but um is we increased, was it the deed transfer tax?

Yes.

So we so we actually increase the deed transfer tax in order to create the housing opportunity fund.

So to eliminate that funding is actually is actually the city taking from the housing opportunity, like taking from something in order to to to fill its own budget holes.

Right, not the the housing opportunity fund never took out of the city's budget, right?

There was actual new funding created specifically for it.

So I think that's that's sort of an important uh thing to to realize, you know, going in, especially as as a member of the board and and uh hopefully fighting for this for this to for for us and the city to to continue this funding, which is really so vital.

Absolutely.

And in having seen once again how these funds

uh

totally facilitate uh, you know, individuals uh in becoming homeowners, it would absolutely be devastating to take them away.

And I

think too, there's also the aspect, and I don't I I I don't suppose that we have a a clear cost analysis, although it would be nice to have one is you know, especially around the eviction prevention services.

You know, if someone is evicted, that is an unhoused person on the street, and what is the cost of that, right?

Like what are we what you know, what are we paying as a city just to to to manage that?

So so this fund is actually um, you know, uh a preventative measure that is that I think ultimately would save taxpayers money by making sure that folks can stay in the world.

Well, I I appreciate you being here and you know, and your your willingness to serve.

It's uh you know, it's a lot of work and it's uh and it's uh a tough time to join the board, but I'm glad to have you.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilwoman Warwick.

Thank you.

Um I don't have any questions for you.

Um I've known you f for a very long time.

Um we serve on the land bank board together.

I know your work from PHDC, your advocacy there.

So I think you'll be a welcomed addition to the HOF.

Um I will simply reiterate what Councilwoman Warwick has said, which is I believe this is a critical tool um for the city of Pittsburgh.

Um if we're going to work to grow our city, then that actually means adding residents, that means adding um homeowners, that means adding to the tax base, which is actually does that, right?