From the Ann Arbor News November 19th, 2006
City plan will help make homes more energy Sunday, November 19, 2006 BY TRACY DAVIS News Staff Reporter
Early next year, Ann Arbor homeowners within certain income guidelines will be able to take advantage of financial assistance to lower their utility bills.
The city has started a program to assist lower-income homeowners with making their houses more energy-efficient, as a way to stabilize what's turning into a big expense for many homeowners.
The money can be used for energy-efficient appliances, lighting, windows, doors, heating and cooling systems; and for air-sealing, insulation and water-saving devices.
The money comes in the form of a low-interest loan that can be deferred until the house is sold or transferred. A maximum of $15,000 per house will be available for single-family homes, with up to $7,500 per unit for rental units in an owner-occupied house.
It will be available to city homeowners who earn below 80 percent of the median income, which for a family of three is $53,650 annually.
The program complements the county's weatherization program, which is available to homeowners with incomes below 30 percent of the median income, or $22,350.
The latest program was inspired by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study, which identified utility costs as a big financial threat to low- and moderate-income families who are hardest hit by rising utility costs on already stretched incomes.
The idea stemmed partly from the city's goal to provide affordable housing. That housing needs to remain low-cost over time, said housing program coordinator Jennifer Hall.
"Energy efficiency is a huge part of that,'' she said. "Just because you build a house up front, it doesn't make it affordable if you're paying $200 a month in utilities.''
It's a timely project. Demands for help with utility bills have been on the rise, because of the depressed Michigan economy and rising energy costs, according to the city and local social services agency officials.
Gary Bell, executive director of SOS Community Services, expects the number of people looking for assistance with utility costs will continue to rise. During the agency's last fiscal year, April 2005 to March 2006, they provided direct utility assistance to 66 families. This year, they're on track to provide for more than 90 families, he said.
"And that is presuming nothing changes,'' he said.
Friends In Deed deals mostly with renters. Rising utility bills are taking a bigger slice of income for many families they help.
"It's a fairly constant problem from year to year, said director Helena Prince. "It's worse with the cost of utility bills going up, but it's always been a problem.''
The pilot program is funded with $100,000 from this year's HUD block grant funds, which were $1.2 million, Hall said.
Tracy Davis can be reached at tdavis@annarbornews.com or
734-994-6856.
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