Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program

The Rural Workforce Housing Land Development Program will provide awards to eligible municipalities within the 41 DED-identified disproportionately impacted class counties and qualified census tracts (QCT) within five additional rural counties for projects that result in the preparation of land for workforce housing. This is pursuant to the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act as a response to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Land developed under this program must be vacant and located in a community within a Nebraska county that has been determined to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic or located within a QCT within the five additional rural counties.

Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) provides state, local, and Tribal governments with the resources needed to respond to the pandemic and its economic effects and to build a stronger economy during the recovery. Funding Restrictions: Eligible municipalities in disproportionally impacted communities must prepare vacant land parcels in accordance with the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act (Neb. Rev. St. §§ 81-1226 through 81-1234), including: (i) Laying of drinking water transmission lines; (ii) Rehabilitation, renovation, maintenance, or costs to secure vacant or abandoned properties in disproportionately impacted communities or in the QCT; (iii) Costs associated with acquiring and securing legal title of vacant or abandoned properties in disproportionately impacted communities or in the QCT and other costs to position the property for current or future use for the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act; (iv) Removal and remediation of environmental contaminants or hazards from vacant or abandoned properties in disproportionately impacted communities or QCT, when conducted in compliance with applicable environmental laws or regulations; (v) Demolition or deconstruction of vacant or abandoned buildings in disproportionately impacted communities or QCT; and (vi) Costs associated with inspection fees and other administrative costs incurred to ensure compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations for demolition or other remediation activities in disproportionately impacted communities or QCT. Municipalities in the counties of Adams, Buffalo, Dodge, Madison and Thurston are eligible to apply only for housing projects located in the federally designated Qualified Census Tract (QCT) in the community. County: Adams – QCT1: 31001966100 County: Buffalo – QCT1: 31019969500 – QCT2: 31019969600 County: Dodge – QCT1: 31053964400 County: Madison – QCT1: 31119960700 County: Thurston – QCT1: 31173940100 – QCT2: 31173940200 The State has identified the following rural counties to be disproportionately impacted: Arthur County Boone County Box Butte County Boyd County Brown County Butler County Cherry County Cheyenne County Custer County Dakota County Dawes County Deuel County Dixon County Dundy County Franklin County Frontier County Gage County Garden County Greeley County Harlan County Holt County Hooker County Howard County Jefferson County Kimball County Lincoln County Logan County Merrick County Morrill County Nemaha County Pawnee County Phelps County Polk County Red Willow County Richardson County Scotts Bluff County Sherman County Valley County Wayne County Webster County Wheeler County Project costs incurred prior to the Notice of Award (NOA) are not eligible under this program. Any parcels that are not vacant prior to submission of this application are not eligible under this program. A parcel is defined as “vacant” under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act (URA) if it does not cause a person to become displaced within the meaning of 42 USC § 4601(6) (https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter61&edition=prelim).

Program guidelines are available at https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/programs/recovery/rural-workforce-housing-land-development-program/

For the purposes of this grant program, “eligible municipalities” means incorporated municipalities located within the forty-one (41) rural counties listed below. These counties have been determined by DED to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. “Disproportionately impacted” rural Nebraska counties are those that experienced disproportionate public health or economic outcomes from the pandemic when compared to other rural Nebraska counties. The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) defines as a disproportionately impacted class of communities, certain rural counties whose labor force was disproportionately affected by the pandemic. These counties were identified as those having a decrease in labor force, or workforce, over the last decade which decrease was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; median household incomes below the state median; and a higher per capita share of housing cost-burdened households. This class, by definition, excludes counties with a population greater than 100,000 people (Douglas, Lancaster, and Sarpy counties). To be included in the disproportionately impacted class, a county had to meet at least three of the four criteria: 1. Labor force decreased from 2010 to 2019. 2. Labor force growth from 2019 to 2020 was depressed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. a. This was estimated by predicting the 2020 labor force, based on the average change over the last decade. If the actual 2020 labor force was less than the predicted labor force, DED considered the county’s labor force to be negatively impacted. 3. More housing cost-burdened households per capita than the Nebraska measure. a. “Housing cost-burdened” is defined as renter and owner households that spend 30 percent or more of their household income on housing. 4. The 2020 household median income was less than Nebraska’s median income. Additionally, rural municipalities with eligible projects contained in QCTs in the counties of Adams, Buffalo, Dodge, Madison, and Thurston are eligible to apply for projects located only within the QCT. These QCTs include: County: Adams – QCT1: 31001966100 County: Buffalo – QCT1: 31019969500 – QCT2: 31019969600 County: Dodge – QCT1: 31053964400 County: Madison – QCT1: 31119960700 County: Thurston – QCT1: 31173940100 – QCT2: 31173940200

General and program-specific user guides and videos may be found at https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/amplifund/. Individuals who are hearing- and/or speech-impaired and have a TTY may contact the Department through the Statewide Relay System by calling (711) in state, 800-833-7352 (TTY), or 800-833-0920 (voice). The relay operator should be asked to call DED at 800-426-6505 or 402-471-3111. Additional information can be reviewed at the Nebraska Relay website, http://www.nebraskarelay.com. Nebraska Relay ofrece servicio gratuito para clientes de habla español: Español-a-Español (711) o 888-272-5528/ Español-a-Inglés (711) o 877-564-3503.