County’s owner-occupied housing rehab program coming to a close, goal fulfilled, money spent

YORK COUNTY – York County’s very successful owner-occupied housing rehabilitation program is coming to a close, as the goal of 19 houses have been positively affected.

​This program was for qualifying homeowners to have access to grant funds to help them make necessary improvements with the purpose of bringing their houses up to code. The grant was awarded to the county and administered by the Southeast Nebraska Development District (SENDD). Applications were presented to a housing committee which made recommendations and then the county commissioners approved the projects as they were brought to them.
The maximum allowance per project was $25,000.
The grant program started with an award of $500,000.
Ryan Bauman, SENDD housing coordinator, met with the York County Commissioners this past week to discuss the closure of the program and to bring forward the very last project for their consideration.
“We will expend all the funds and we hit the goal of impacting 19 homes,” Bauman said.
He noted the program will close in early August.
“We had a total of 51 applicants, which is a really, really good number which is more than we normally see for a county project like this,” Bauman said.
“This program has been winding down and it has been extremely successful,” said York County Commissioner Chairman Randy Obermier.
The identities of the property owners who benefitted from the program are confidential, but during an earlier meeting, Bauman indicated applications had been submitted from Benedict, Gresham, Henderson, Bradshaw and York.