Wyoming Stories | Community Development Digest

Wyoming City Gets Creative in Quest for Sustainable Affordable Housing

Wyoming Community Development Authority (WCDA) has developed the state's first LEED-certified multi-family affordable housing complex. The agency plans to use the project, which is located in Casper, as a model for other sustainable, affordable housing developments.

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Casper, WY Seeks Answers to CDBG Cut

Officials in Casper, WY are trying to get information from the Census Bureau and HUD concerning the calculation that resulted in a 33% reduction in the city's FY 2012 Community Development Block Grant funding. New data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey is being used in Casper's CDB...

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(STATES) KY, NH, WY Considering Changing CDBG Uses after Disasters

Parts of Kentucky, New Hampshire and Wyoming are declared disaster areas, leaving state officials considering options to aid homeowners and low-income renters who lost homes, including using existing and future Community Development Block Grant funds to cover repair costs. President Obama declared ...

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(GRANTS) $135,000 Available for Small Business Transportation Resource Center

Transportation Dept. officials are seeking applications from stakeholders in six states for a single $135,000 grant award from the Small Business Transportation Resource Center (SBTRC) Program. The program recipients ultimately provide technical aid and training to businesses owned by minorities, wo...

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(DEVELOPMENT) HUD's List of Difficult Development Areas Grows Shorter

HUD's 2011 list of larger Difficult Development Areas (DDAs) that qualify for federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) is smaller, due to the expiration of the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) program which allowed participants to automatically qualify as DDAs. HUD designates DDAs as areas wi...

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(GRANTS) Agriculture Sets Deadline for Rural Housing Preservation Grant Applications

Rural nonprofit organizations and public entities such as local governments and tribes have until June 28 to submit applications for portions of more than $10.1 million in the Agriculture Dept.'s Housing Preservation Grant (HPG). The Rural Housing Service is administering t...

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(STATES) New Utah Law Sets Up Eminent Domain Battle with Federal Government

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) signs legislation giving the state the power to take federal land using eminent domain, a law that sets the stage for a constitutional challenge involving the federal government's right to take state land for public use. The new law is seen by some observers as&...

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(COURTS) Federal Appeals Verdict Could Harm Indian Housing Grants

Culmination of a legal squabble regarding tribal housing on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana could have a ripple effect on federal housing subsidies for Native-American tribal governments with large rent-to-own programs. A federal appeals court finds in Fort Peck Housing Authority v. U....

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(STATES) WY Governor Pushing 1-Year Moratorium on Wind Utility Eminent Domain Efforts

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) is offering legislation to state lawmakers that would place a one-year moratorium on any eminent domain efforts to be conducted by the wind utility industry. The wind utility industry seeks to use eminent domain in instances in which it wants to build new collector...

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(ARRA) Tribes Get First $1 Billion of Development Bonds, Guidance for Second Round

Treasury stimulus bond authority totaling $1 billion goes to 58 tribes nationwide and tribes also receive guidance on how to apply for a second $1 billion in the Tribal Economic Development Bond (TEDB) program. Congress authorized the Treasury Dept. to award $2 billion in TEDB to Indian tribal gove...

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