Commissioners OK $1 Million Plan To Assist First-Time Home Buyers

BARTOW | The next step in County Commissioner Bob English's plan to stimulate the local housing market with a $1 million assistance plan advanced Wednesday.

Commissioners approved an agreement with the Keystone Challenge Fund to implement the program to provide affordable housing for 100 first-time home buyers.

Under the plan, each applicant would be eligible to receive up to $10,000 in assistance for a down payment and closing costs, $7,000 of which would have to be repaid.

The program expects to be ready to accept applications within 45 days.

The assistance will be available on a first-come, first-ready basis.

English proposed the plan earlier this year during a discussion of how to spend "one-time money," which is unspent funds from the last budget year.

He said the proposal would aid the ailing local housing industry and put more people into homes. The program will only cover the cost of buying new homes.

[ Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. ]