The third and final meeting of the Interim Summer Study for Workforce Housing met Thursday, October 26, 2017. The committee was assigned the tasks of studying the need for workforce housing in the state, especially in the rural areas and in smaller communities; review programs offered by the South Dakota Housing Development Authority; explore and recommend possible ways to address current and future workforce housing needs.
The members heard from:
- Mark Lauseng, with the South Dakota Housing Development Authority about a possible new program for young, first-time homebuyers called Grants for Grads.
- Department of Revenue Secretary Andy Gerlach will present the committee with information on the state’s contractor’s excise tax and the amount of that tax that is being transferred to the Building South Dakota Fund.
- Jeff Mehlhaff, Fiscal Analyst with the Legislative Research Council, presented an overview of the Building South Dakota Fund and its subsidiary funds, one of which is the Housing Opportunity Fund. Jeff also reviewed three pieces of draft legislation that, if enacted, may provide additional funding for housing projects. The committee will likely consider Workforce Housing-Draft 1 legislation with further amendments; Workforce Housing-Draft 2 will likely be considered; and Workforce Housing-Draft 3 legislation is no longer being considered.
