Ann Arbor – Washtenaw County Treasurer’s Bridge Loans to Affordability, a model program helping homeowners with delinquent property taxes, won a coveted NACo (National Association of Counties) 2023 Achievement Award.
Bridge Loans to Affordability is a revolving loan fund established by the Washtenaw County Treasurer, Catherine McClary, in 2019 as a demonstration project with seed funding from the Board of Commissioners. Bridge Loans to Affordability helps families to catch up delinquent real property taxes for homeowner’s ineligible for other grants and loans. The loans are often the last step for homeowners who have recently gained legal title to their home through the Home for Generations program (a NACo Achievement Award winner in 2021).
“Cultivating pathways to housing affordability and retention in Washtenaw County is a major priority for the Board. Our investment in the Bridge Loan Fund will help empower homeowners by providing a lifeline to catch up when other grants and loans are inaccessible.” Commissioner Katie Scott, District 9. “Winning this award underscores the urgent need for comprehensive solutions that promote affordable housing.”
Participants must demonstrate an ability to pay their property taxes going forward for long-term housing sustainability. The program supports Washtenaw County community goals of homeownership and affordable housing. The program addresses historic practices of segregation, redlining, restrictive covenants, and other housing discrimination.
The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners made a high-impact appropriation of $500,000 to the Bridge Loan Fund in the 2023 budget. Over the next decade, these funds will allow a multiplicative expansion of the scope and impact of this ground-breaking program targeting housing affordability and racial equity.
Treasurer McClary thanked the Commissioners, “We are grateful for the support of the Board. The appropriation for Bridge Loans highlights their commitment to prevent tax foreclosure. We anticipate that the allocation for Bridge Loans can last for a number of years as we are using the funds judiciously, as needed, for low-income families. We are using other funding when a family is eligible in order to leverage the County’s allocation.”
