(AUSTIN) — The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) and State Representative Tracy King today announced a $542,000 award to the City of Carrizo Springs that will help fund home repairs for low income homeowners, helping residents maintain homeownership while providing a significant boost to the local economy.

City officials anticipate the funds will help rehabilitate six homes owned and lived in by income eligible households.

“Many of the constituents from Carrizo Springs will benefit from the home repairs funded through this program,” said Representative King who joined the Department in announcing the award. “The state's home repair program has the potential to greatly improve the local economy and I encourage TDHCA to continue its commitment to maintaining homeownership in the rural areas of our state.”

“Repairing older homes not only helps maintain homeownership for low income families, it also helps maintain the vitality of smaller Texas communities,” noted Tim Irvine, TDHCA Executive Director. “Home repair assistance also benefits the regional economy through an influx of construction payroll salaries and increased taxes and fees that help fund essential public services, so we anticipate that this award will have a significant impact on the community.”

TDHCA awards home repair funds to qualifying applicants through the Department’s HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, which helps repair or replace homes owned and lived in by low income homeowners. If a home has deteriorated to the point it no longer is cost effective to repair, it may be demolished and replaced with either a traditional “site built” home or a manufactured home.

Qualifying applicants include rural cities and counties, public housing authorities, Community Housing Development Organizations and other nonprofit housing groups, and certain for-profit organizations which then work with eligible households at the local level.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is the funding source for the HOME Program. The program serves households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median family income, which for the City of Carrizo Springs equals an annual income of $38,900 for a family for four. For more information about this award, please contact the city directly at (830) 876-2476.