Clay County Commission
Dan Haglund
Dara Lee went point by point as to why the Clay County Housing and Redevelopment Authority should be granted a special benefit tax levy for 2026.
And the executive director of the organization got her wish Tuesday before the Clay County Board of Commissioners in Moorhead.
Her request of $300,000 for 2026 was granted after a 4-1 vote, with Dist. 2 Commissioner Ezra Baer of Hawley dissenting.
As the Clay County HRA has a statutory authority to levy to support housing activities, the organization must also get this board’s consent for such annual levy requests.
An attorney by trade, Lee said this year’s ask of $300,000 represents about 17 percent of the maximum HRA levy of just under $1.8 million. Broken down, this levy would cost $3.11 per $100,000 in taxable market value. So for a home valued at $300,000, the annual levy would be $9.33.
“So most households in Clay County would be paying less than $10 per year in order to help leverage those housing resources and deliver them to the community,” Lee said.
Lee was quick to note that one of the programs sponsored by this levy is the Minnesota Cities Participation Program, which helps residents access first-time homeowner loans, down payment assistance, and low-income loans for property repairs.
Prior to HRA taking over this statewide program within the county, it was only available to certain communities like Moorhead, Hawley, Barnesville, Dilworth and Glyndon – and each had to reapply annually. Now all residents are eligible to apply, and it is administered by local banks.
“This year we’re on pace to do $8 million in first-time loans and other assistance through Minnesota Housing,” Lee said. “Many of our folks who are paying this levy have also benefitted from being able to utilize this program.”
Lee suggests any citizens interested in the program should talk to their local Realtors or bank representatives for more information. It helps moderate- to low-income homeowners to access reduced interest-rate funding for purchase, down payment assistance and repairs.
Lee said the program is quick and efficient, aside from the need to request funds to administer it. She said the HRA primarily uses Rehabilitation Loan Program through Minnesota Housing for any extremely low-income homeowners in the county.
Recently, Dilworth received $1.2 million in funds to rehabilitate 23 homeowner houses through the Minnesota DEED Small Cities Development Program. Cities with fewer than 50,000 residents and townships or counties with less than 200,000 residents are eligible. The statewide annual outlay for this program is consistently more than $20 million.
An application for an additional $1.2 million was submitted for the City of Barnesville as well, according to Lee, to benefit up to 23 homeowners and 16 businesses.
Commissioner Kevin Campbell, Dist. 4, inquired about the process of potentially awarding Barnesville with the DEED federal grant funds, which are competitively awarded, according to Lee. The city’s leveraged funds are also taken into consideration when determining such awards.
Campbell also asked if the City of Moorhead has utilized leverage funds for the goal of ending homelessness, and Lee said yes, and the monies were put toward Churches United for the Homeless as well as toward the HRA to assist with administrative costs last year.
Lee said in addition to the property programs, funds are being used to try end homelessness in the county., in concert with organizations such as Lakes & Prairies Community Action Partnership (CAPLP) and the Moorhead Area Public Schools.
“We have a long history of partnering and oftentimes sharing money with CAPLP, Clay County Social Services, Presentation Partners in Housing, CCRI, Lakeland Mental Health Center,” Lee said. “And these levy funds are what make that a reality.”
Lee said the pandemic years, especially 2022-23, were especially hard on her organization financially, and all the reserves were spent to remain solvent.
