Eight affordable housing projects are requesting funding from the City of Lawrence, including a housing repair program, a voucher program for homeless people and a project that would build a complex of townhomes with 50 new affordable units. A special city sales tax has helped generate $1.275 million this year, and the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board is preparing to award $450,000 from the fund, which will be its last distribution for 2020, according to Danielle Buschkoetter, budget and strategic initiatives administrator. The eight projects and programs recently submitted their funding applications to the board, which is now in the process of evaluating the applications.
Source: LJWorld.com.

The city of Lawrence is moving forward with plans to create a voluntary utility donation program to help low-income residents pay their city utility bill. The city, which provides solid waste, water and sewer services, plans to contract with Catholic Charities to administer the program, and an agreement for the service is expected to come forward soon. Utility Billing Manager Kristen Webb said Thursday that city staff is currently reviewing a contract with Catholic Charities internally. Webb said staff hopes to have the contract finalized and the technical aspects of the assistance program worked out in the city’s billing system by the end of February, allowing utility customers to sign up to make donations sometime in March.
Source: LJWorld.com.