PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Affordable Housing Trust has four months to commit a half-million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Community Development Director Justine Dodds delivered this "somewhat surprising" news to the panel last week. It was previously believed that they had a couple more years to decide which housing projects would receive support.

"As compressed as it may seem, I feel like we are really in kind of a good spot," Dodds said, explaining that the panel has letters of interest, an overview of interested applicants, and a full application that will allow them to make an informed decision.

What this means, she said, is that the board will have to review the applications in depth and commit to getting them done in September and October. Members voted for a Sept. 17 deadline understanding that some applications may require additional information.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has updated its guidance over the last couple of months, having a couple of effects on the trust's process. Some $500,000 was allocated from the city to the trust and there was somewhat of a memorandum of understanding between the two entities that was believed to comply with the 2026 deadline, Dodds said.

"We no longer feel that that is the case," she explained.

"So what I have been told is that it looks like the arrangement between the city and the Affordable Housing Trust isn't considered to be obligated under the Treasury guidance and this is really going to speed up our timeline. We have to have everything committed by the end of December."

The trust plans to contact those who have submitted letters of intent and ask for a full application before its next meeting. Final recommendations are staged for October.  

Earlier this summer, five affordable or partially affordable housing projects were reviewed: three from local organizations and two from wider-reaching developers. This includes Hearthway (formerly known as Berkshire Housing,) Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, and the Westside Legends.

"The awardees will have to demonstrate that these are shovel-ready projects, that they can have all of the financing that they need to complete these projects by the end of December of this year," Dodds reported.

"And then the last day for applicants who are working on these projects to actually use or lose funds would be November of 2026 so it does give them some flexibility of when they can get it."

The city feels that it is under a tight timeline to get the projects awarded, tied up, and ready to go, she added.

Mayor Peter Marchetti has reportedly communicated that this is not unique to housing projects.  Through reallocations, there may be an opportunity for the trust to disperse more than its allocated ARPA funds.  

"Determining where people are, where projects are, in the middle of their projected timelines is going on across all of the places that the city has awarded funds, which includes the nonprofits that receive funding, includes city projects as well that are in varying stages of completion," Dodds reported.

"There may funds are being reallocated through the ARPA team and with the mayor's final approval, the mayor has communicated that if the trust could prioritize the order of the awards and the dollar amount that we as a board feel the applicant is necessary for these projects, there may be an opportunity for there to be more than the $500,000 available for these projects if they can demonstrate that they're moving forward, they’re shovel ready, and that they have their other financing in place by the end of the year."

The Treasury has also expanded area median income limits for housing projects for up to 120 percent area median income.

Formerly, if the funds were to be used in disproportionately affected areas of the city (which is mostly the Morningside, West Side, and downtown areas,) they could be spent on housing up to 80 percent AMI. If working within the balance of the city, it came to about 65 percent AMI.

"The new guidance that came out from the Treasury now says that we can actually spend funds for up to 120 percent of median family income, which is a huge, huge difference when we're looking at what income brackets we could address with these funds," Dodds explained.

There is some language that alludes to rental housing, which she is going to clarify since there are homeownership projects that have expressed interest in the funds.

"My general feeling is that what Treasury is looking to do is get these funds allocated, get them out the door, and are broadening their approach because of that," she added.

"Nobody wants to see any of these funds left on the table."

Members discussed forming a subcommittee to expedite the review process. Dodds feels that the panel is worthy of leading the charge.

"I think we've got a real group of committed people here," she said.

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