Editorial
Help will soon be on the way in the new year for Lexington residents who are facing financial circumstances that make it difficult for them to properly maintain their homes. Threshold, the city’s housing commission, is launching a new Homeowners Helper program this month.
The first round of applications will be made available starting Jan. 15, with a deadline for having them filled out and returned by March 1. The city has budgeted $250,000 for the program. Once projects are approved by Threshold, funds will be loaned through the city’s Economic Development Authority to pay contractors for the repairs.
The objective of the program is to promote “safe and affordable housing in Lexington, [prioritizing] home repairs that address health, safety or welfare concerns.” Examples of the kinds of repairs that fall under this definition include repairing porches, replacing broken windows or doors, fixing or replacing leaky roofs, making repairs to bathrooms or kitchens, replacing or upgrading unsafe electrical services.
Threshold has devised a scoring system for determining who will qualify for receiving funding for the home repairs. The homes will be assessed for unsafe or unhealthy conditions and whether the defects pose an immediate risk. An earlier windshield survey of Lexington residences assessed whether there were significant defects visible from the exterior of the homes. Applicants will receive an additional point if the head of household is elderly, disabled or a veteran and/or if other members of the household are under the age of 18, elderly, disabled or veterans.
The city’s Planning and Development Department will be coordinating with preselected contractors to carry out the work. The cost of a particular project will be assessed as a lien on the property which the city will collect when the property is transferred to a new owner, either through sale or through transfer to a relative by a will after the homeowner’s death. Once collected, the money will be returned to the program to be put toward other projects.
City Manager Tom Carroll proposed the initiative, having developed and overseen similar programs in Silverton, Ohio, and Cambridge, Md. Fixing up homes that would otherwise be left in disrepair benefits not only the individual homeowner but the neighborhood in which the house is located.
“People have problems with their house and sometimes they simply can’t afford to fix it and the problem’s just going to get worse,” Cambridge City Manager Glenn Steckman told The News-Gazette earlier. “If it helps stabilize the house and preserve safety, it’s worth every dime of it, especially for keeping older people in their homes.”
“There’s about 10 to 15 percent of people who are well aware that their house needs to be painted or that they need a new roof, but they just don’t have the money,” said Carroll in an earlier story. “So then what do you do when you face those circumstances as a city? Because it’s still true that, even if I can’t afford to fix up my house, my house falling into disrepair still affects my neighbor.” Applications will be available on Threshold’s website, https://www. lexingtonva.gov/government/ boards-and-commissions/threshold. To find out more, contact Arne Glaeser at (540) 462-3704.
Being a locally run program funded by local tax dollars makes it a simpler process for all involved, with fewer bureaucratic hoops for applicants to jump through. We commend Carroll, members of Threshold and City Council for putting this program in place.
