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| | 1. | | Review and approval of the April 28th meeting minutes.
Minutes note: Meeting convened: 10:01 AM
All members present.
Ald. Stamper moved approval of the minutes. There were no objections. | | | |
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| | 2. | | Communication from the Department of City Development on Housing Infrastructure Preservation Fund Activities.
Minutes note: Kari Smith, Dept. of City Development (DCD), present on this item. They have not used any additional funds since the April meeting. They are working on re-organizing the program.
There are no additional funds in the 2026 budget, but will be carrying over funds from 2025.
Sixty properties have been done under this program and 56 of those are back on the tax rolls. They are trying to contact Sherrie Tussler to see how they can make this program go a little smoother. | | | |
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| | 3. | | Communication from the Department of City Development on the Lease-to-Own Program.
Minutes note: This program is no longer alive due to the new state statute, so DCD is thinking of how to do this program in the future. Due to the change in state statutes, the property must be listed at the appraised value, so the price will be higher. They are trying to work with ACTS Housing to provide financial support with the purchase. They don't want to set the tenant up to buy the property and they have to sell to someone else who has more resources. | | | |
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| | 4. | | Communication from the Department of City Development on the Strong Home Loan Program.
Minutes note: Mark Pelzk, Dept. of City Development, said this program exists to provide low-interest loans for critical repairs for homeowners. They have 52 loans approved year-to-date and have 79 applications in process. NIDC does the underwriting. One million dollars is budgeted for 2026 and he thinks that is adequate as is staffing. The maximum loan is $25,000 and he believes the average amount is between $20,000-$22,000. There are three types of loans, all of which are good deals and it depends on the homeowner's qualifications which one they will qualify for. Roofs, porches, gutters, electrical and plumbing are the main loans. The loans can go up to 15 years. Both aldermen would like to know if the city is getting revenue or a loss from this program. | | | |
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| | 5. | | Communication from the Department of City Development on the status of the Homes MKE Program.
Minutes note: Ken Miller with DCD Homes MKE, said 54 homes have been completed and there are 32 homes under construction and 9 closing this month and 5 closing before the end of the year. The loans are $122,000 per home. End of 2026 is the deadline to expend all of the ARPA funds. There are administrative costs of $1.5 million, which the Council was not aware of (three temporary positions were created to handle the program). The initial assumption was $75,000 per house. Ald. Bauman is concerned that $500,000 was removed from the program and moved to another program. Mr. Kilmer will check on the $500,000 that was moved. The properties must be sold to owner occupants. Strong Blocks manages 12 properties, which are lease to own. When the property is sold, it must be sold to an owner occupant. Ald. Bauman is concerned that there are no stipulations on how long these properties may be rented. Ald. Bauman asked if the city has a clawback provision if the properties are not sold and continue to be lease with no deadlines. NIDC monitors this. President Perez came up for this item to question what the evaluation looks like to see if Strong Blocks is getting homeowners in. Ald. Bauman asked if there is a clawback provision if no homeowners are found by Strong Block within 5 years (no, there is not). Strong Blocks maintain those 12 properties with NIDC checking upon transfer of the properties, but not a standing schedule after that. There will be a complete report on this before ZND and Ald. Bauman went into detail of what he is looking for for that meeting. | | | |
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| | 6. | | Communication from the Department of Department of City Development on the Down Payment Assistance Program.
Minutes note: Mark Pelek, NIDC, said this is forgivable loans for first-time homeowners and 64% have purchased within the CDBG area. For 2025, it was funded at 1.25 million and it is intended that all will be spent. For 2026, $600,000 is appropriated. 2025 received additional funds from a variety of revenue sources that will not be there in 2026. The grants are either $5,000 or $7,000 (in the CDBG areas). Mr. Kilmer said the loan amounts are competitive and in line with other housing agencies. There are three housing agencies that administer the program; NIDC does not directly administer this program. The agencies submit quarterly reports. These funds can be used with other programs and is a pro-rated forgivable loan. | | | |
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| | 7. | | Communication from the Department of Neighborhood Services on the Compliance Loan Program.
Minutes note: Cassandra Tyler said this is for a single-family or duplex purchasers and used to reduce blight. For 2025, the total amount was $660,000 and there are 51 loans with an average amount of $19,000 and the average household income is $36,000. The loans come from community outreach and word-of-mouth. The Dept. decides what the scope of work is in order to address building code violations. There is no overlap of funds with FEMA for work in the flooded areas. For both 2025 and 2026, one million was budgeted. The city will partner with other loans or organizations if more money is needed. The loans are zero-interest and deferred payment as long as the house remains with them or a direct descendent and is a lien on the property until the property is not sold to a child or grandchild. The loan can be paid off early as a lump sum, but not a payment plan. | | | |
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| | 8. | | Communication from the Department of Neighborhood Services relating to demolition and deconstruction.
Minutes note: Jamaane Cheatham said 80 properties have been razed; 49 by private contractors and 31 by DPW. There will be one more bid package in November that will have primarily commercial properties. There are 46 restoration agreements for condemned properties. In 2025, 75 new properties were condemned due to either general blight or fire. For 2025, they were budgeted $3.3 million with a carryover of $1.5 million for 2026. 180 properties was the goal for 2025 and they anticipate doing 90. For next year the goal is 90. He is anticipating the total 2026 budget will be $3 million (half carryover and half budgeted). The city didn't take in any in-rem properties, which are normally 60-65% of the demolished properties. Kari Smith said that the backlog has been cleared up so that is resulting in fewer properties and some properties have also been removed from the demo list. This item will be heard at the ZND meeting as well. Ald. Bauman can understand why they are running out of buildings to demo and then wonders why they need so much funding for 2026. | | | |
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| | 9. | | Communication from various departments on the proposed 2026 budget appropriations relating to housing.
Minutes note: No one present on this and no spreadsheet was created for this agenda item. | | | |
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| | 10. | | Communication from various departments regarding the city’s plan to develop single family and duplex housing stock, including the raze and revive program.
Minutes note: Mr. Kilmer said the $1.6 million in the 2026 budget is for the Revive program with the RFQ focusing on new construction that isn't single-family, more townhomes, duplexes and other similar homes. They would hope to see 13-14 new homeowners. Pathways to Removing Obstacles (PRO) is a federal program having $1.2 million and adding $1.6 more with the hope to add 25 total new homeowners. There will be a development team working on this. This will also be heard at ZND. Revive's focus will be on city vacant lots with $110,000 subsidy per property. | | | |
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| | 11. | | Communication from the City Attorney's Office regarding updates on neighborhood revitalization litigation.
Minutes note: Mr. Evan Goyke said they re-built the Neighborhood Revitilization Team, headed by Julie Wilson. Mr. Goyke wished he had requested closed session for this. This will be discussed at JL. This item will no longer be on the agenda in the future. | | | |
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| | 12. | | Public Comment.
Minutes note: There was none. | | | |
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| | 13. | | Set next meeting date.
Minutes note: This will be set by the Chair.
Meeting adjourned; 11:28 AM
Linda M. Elmer
Staff Assistant
This meeting can be viewed in its entirety through the City's Legislative Research Center at http://milwaukee.legistar.com/calendar.
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241446
| 0 | | Communication | Communication relating to the 2025 activities of the Joint Committee on the Redevelopment of Abandoned and Foreclosed Homes. | | | |
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