Housing Rehab

The City of Alliance has been involved in housing rehabilitation within the city in one way or another for many years. For the last ten years, Stark County Regional Planning has been operating the Owner Occupied Rehab Program for the city out of their offices in Canton. Starting January 1, 2001, that program is now being operated "in-house" by the City of Alliance. During the last year, changes in city staff have provided personnel with considerable housing renovation and development experience. For that reason, the city decided to operate the program themselves. The Administration also believed the program would be more accessible and visible to residents needing assistance.

In the past, the City of Alliance has dedicated approximately $200,000 of Federal money a year to the rehab program. Funds were used to renovate owner-occupied housing for income qualified residents. Every year, all the funds have been expended. And every year, some money would come back into the program from payments made on loans made in the previous years.

By combining those funds, the City believes we will have approximately $300,000 for the rehab program this year. There are some differences between the program previously managed by Stark County Regional Planning and the program being conducted by the city. Previously, there were no specifically targeted areas of the city for the rehab work. Now we are targeting four different areas.

The target area with the highest priority is bounded by Broadway St. on the north, Union Ave. on the west, South St. on the south, and Mahoning Ave. on the east. A second priority area extends from Broadway north to the railroad tracks, with Union Ave. on the west and Mahoning on the east. The third area to be addressed runs from the railroad tracks north to the city limits, again with Union on the west and Mahoning on the east. The fourth and last target area is on the north side of town, from Union Ave. west to Klinger Ave., between Vine St. on the north and W. Ely St. on the south.

Residents in these areas who are on the current waiting list will be contacted by the City’s Planning and Development Department to see if they are still interested in the program. To be eligible for the program, you must be the owner of record of a single family home, reside in the home, and have an income at or below 80% of the Stark County area median. Currently, the Stark County median income for a family of four is $48,500. Eighty percent of that is $38,800. Adjustments are made for family size.

Low interest rehab loans are made to the resident for the renovations. Residents with incomes below 50% of median income may be eligible for a deferred loan for up to half of the renovation costs. For more information you can call the Planning and Development Department at 330-829-2235.