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INFORMATION 06-04-2012INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TO: Housing Redevelopment Authority City Council FROM: Annie Deckert, Director of Economic Development DATE: June 4, 2012 SUBJECT: Foreclosure Prevention Initiative Update In 2009, staff developed three strategies to stabilize and improve the city's housing stock by offering prevention initiatives to decrease the number of foreclosed homes, keeping homes well maintained and transitioning foreclosed homes back into homeownership as quickly as possible: Prevention To prevent foreclosures through free foreclosure prevention counseling (through the MN Home Ownership Center) and a public outreach and information campaign Preserve & Secure Partner and coordinate with city staff and Elk River Municipal Utilities (ERMU) to identify and secure these properties by using a centralized communication system to track vacant and foreclosed homes, avoiding duplication of staff efforts Recoverv Revitalize properties and provide other applicable assistance to quickly make homes home-owner ready by remediating impacts to neighborhoods (Through the HRA's application for Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Foreclosure Recovery Funds) Economic development staff partnered with the county, Elk River Municipal Utilities and other city departments to create a comprehensive foreclosure tracking spreadsheet to manage foreclosed and vacant property data. Through this, we are able to ensure these homes are prepared for winter (water shut-offs, electric shut-offs, etc.). In addition, the Police Department is able to ensure vacant homes are secure, maintained, and patrolled as necessary. ~QMf EKED 6Y H~ ELK RIVER FORECLOSURES 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 .2006 TOTAL Janua 14 13 20 14 26 9 6 102 Februa 15 4 27 20 22 10 4 102 March 6 17 35 12 17 7 4 98 A ril 13 14 18 11 12 4 7 79 Ma 18 20 16 22 19 6 101 June 12 32 12 22 20 14 112 Jul 16 21 22 26 14 8 107 Au ust 15 17 19 19 13 6 89 Se tember 13 16 12 16 16 5 78 October 9 12 17 20 20 7 85 November 14 12 12 14 26 6 84 December 11 7 13 13 18 13 75 Total 48 156 237 180 229 176 86 1112 OF COUNTY TOTAL 24% 25% 31% 26% 25% 27% 24% 26% SHERBURNE COUNTY FORECLOSURES 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 Janua 60 41 79 61 95 47 19 Februa 47 35 72 72 77 33 20 March 48 59 97 44 82 45 20 A ril 49 70 69 49 66 45 21 Ma 67 69 59 82 72 26 June 57 80 63 87 52 31 Jul 55 63 75 100 55 48 Au ust 55 17 45 60 42 35 Se tember 46 72 55 66 53 33 October 33 59 82 63 71 32 November 56 60 51 68 86 30 December 40 35 47 61 57 38 Total 204 614 772 703 907 658 353 402 356 395 369 375 370 396 254 325 340 351 278 4211 ~.. ~ ~-~ ~ ~ Contact: Ed Nelson, Marketing & Communications Manager Minnesota Homeownership Center 651-659-9336 x 104 - ed@hocmn.org Foreclosure Prevention Counseling Saved Minnesota Over $260 Million in 2011 More than 3,700 Foreclosures Prevented Last Year St. Paul, Minn. (May 24, 2012) -More than 3,700 foreclosures were prevented in Minnesota last year, saving homeowners, lenders, neighborhoods and local governments more than $260 million, according to a study released today by the Minnesota Homeownership Center. The report, titled "2011 Foreclosure Counseling Program Report," analyzed information collected from homeowners seeking foreclosure counseling and outcomes from the Homeownership Advisors Network, Minnesota's statewide network of housing counselors. Last year more than 10,000 Minnesota families received free foreclosure prevention services from a Homeownership Advisor. Of the closed cases where outcomes are known, 60% of these households were able to avoid foreclosure. "The best advice we can give a homeowner that is struggling with mortgage payments is to speak with a Homeownership Advisor as quickly as possible. These professionals are providing meaningful outcomes for Minnesota homeowners, their communities, lenders and local governments," said Julie Gugin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Homeownership Center. "We know that foreclosure counseling works, and are proud to announce that more than 3,700 Minnesota families remain in their homes today because of our counselors' work." Information from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program has shown that consumers receiving a loan modification from their lender while working with a homeownership advisor paid on average $176 a month less than non-counseled clients. In Minnesota, this translates to over $175,000 in additional direct savings to struggling Minnesota families. Data from the Minnesota Homeownership Center is showing that the state is slowly recovering from the foreclosure crisis. In 2011, the number of households receiving a preforeclosure notice declined by almost 24% from 2010, the number of completed foreclosures (Sheriffs Sales) declined by 17% and the number of households requesting foreclosure counseling also declined, although by a smaller margin of 16%. CONTINUES INFORMATION MEMORANDUM ver TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Justin Femrite, P.E., City Engineer DATE: June 4, 2012 SUBJECT: MNDOT CIMS Summary On Monday May 21, I attended a Corridor Investment Management Strategy (CIMS) meeting at MNDOT in St. Cloud. This meeting was hosted by MNDOT in an effort to receive local input regarding transportation needs for the next 20 years on the Trunk Highway systems. I have attached some information from MNDOT with some background on their CIMS initiative. Attendees of the meeting included members of various highway coalitions, council members, mayors, county commissioners, city administrators, city and county engineers, and concerned residents. At the meeting, MNDOT discussed how their limited budgets must be focused on preservation and rehabilitation of their existing infrastructure. They further explained the current funding levels are not sufficient for MNDOT to undertake large scale mobility or expansion projects. As such, they have now reallocated the limited amount they have previously budgeted for mobility and expansion to go towards pavement preservation. Mobility enhancement projects axe essentially traffic congestion relief projects. This means projects like the proposed improvements to TH 10 and TH 169 through Elk River will have even less funding allocated toward them. This is an approach MNDOT is Eoxced to take at a state wide level due to their current funding levels. On the behalf of Elk River I expressed concern that, as a city, we have recently put up a large amount of local money to study mobility improvements to the trunk highway system on MNDOT's behalf. I further expressed that seeing no movement towards making any type of mobility improvements to TH 10 or TH 169 in Elk River is hard to understand and justify our investment in the planning we completed fox it. I also stated that it is difficult to get community buy-in to the layouts if MNDOT never puts these projects in any of their improvement plans. Sherburne County Commissioner Ewald Peterson and Felix Schmiesing further emphasized the need fox MNDOT to put efforts and funding towards making mobility improvements to TH 10 and TH 169 through Elk River. The Sherburne County Public Works Director and County Engineer also expressed similar comments and support for needing these improvements. This was the 6xst round of several meetings I expect MNDOT to host on the CIMS initiative. If you have any questions on the CIMS initiative or want to add formal comments to MNDOT beyond what was communicated at the CIMS meeting, please call me at 763-635-1051. PflMEflEfl IY ~Aru~~ Frequently Asked Questions Corridor Investment Management Strategy What is CIMS? CIMS is a corridor-based initiative that brings MnDOT together with its local, modal and state partners to identify opportunities for collaborative and innovative investment. Il offers a means to share information and identify opportunities to apply MnDOT's suite of lower cost, high benefit investment strategies that address safety and mobility. MnDOT will facilitate annual CIMS meetings and an interactive website that brings MnDOT together with its partners to exchange information and discuss opportunities for collaborative and sustainable investment. Investment opportunities identified through the CIMS process will be considered for a competitive solicitation to be launched in 2013. Additionally, for each corridor MnDOT will channel input received through the CIMS process into a 10-year Corridor Outlook, which will be updated annually. Why did MnDOT create CIMS? In the 1990s and early/mid 2000s, MnDOT and its regional partners developed many visions and plans for improving corridors across the state. At that time the economy was booming, the system was in better condition, revenues were increasing, and there was an expectation that funding would be available to make large scale capacity and access improvements. Now, times are different. The cost of implementing existing corridor plans far exceeds available revenue for the foreseeable future. This has caused MnDOT to rethink its strategy on some corridors. It has also caused many of MnDOT's partners to ask "How can we move forward with our corcidor plans in light of today's challenges?" In 2011, MnDOT convened seveml meetings with corridor coalitions to discuss the situation and identify an approach for addressing regional and local priorities. Based on those discussions and other feedback MnDOT has received from stakeholders expressing a desire for more information related to their corridors, MnDOT developed the CIMS concept and approach. Which corridors are included? MnDOT is initiating the CIMS process on a limited number of corridors, but intends to extend the program to additional state highway corridors in the coming years. In greater Minnesota, the first round will focus on the Interregional Condor System and corridors recently identified as supplemental to the IRC system based on their significance for freight movement. In the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, the first round will focus on the state Principal Arterials and transitways that run on state highways. In addition, groups representing several other corridors were part of discussions with MnDOT that led to the creation of CIMS and have been included for continuity. MnDOT will incorporate feedback from this initial round of meetings in future rounds, which will include additional state trunk highway corridors. CIMS Frequently Asked Questions - 517112 Does CIMS replace previously adopted corridor plans or visions? CIMS is focused on what can be achieved in the near to medium term with available resources and through partnerships or collaboration. It does not preclude larger, longer-term visions or plans. Are the lower-cost, high benefit strategies lists in the CIMS brochure the only strategies being considered? No. The strategies listed in the brochure are examples of the types of strategies that may be considered through the CIMS process to address safety, access, operations, and mobility needs. MnDOT is continuously researching and investigating new strategies and has identified a variety of lower-cost approaches with high benefits. How much money will be available for the solicitation and what will the criteria be? The amount of funding available and criteria for the first round of the CIMS solicitation have not been finalized. The• initial level of funding is likely to be comparable to the MnDOT/DEED Transportation Economic Development Program. In addition to transportation criteria, MnDOT will be engaging other state agencies during the summer of 2012 to help develop criteria related to quality of life, economic competitiveness and environmental health. The focus for the first solicitation will be on trunk highway projects that address local and regional priorities not covered by MnDOT's performance-based planning approach. MnDOT anticipates releasing additional details in the fall of 2012 with an anticipated solicitation in eady 2013. If a corridor is not included in the May 2012 meetings, will it still be eligible for the solicitation in 2013? Yes, the CIMS solicitation will be criteria-based and any trunk highway project that meets the criteria will be eligible to submit an application for funding. What is the relationship between CIMS and the 20-Year State Highway Investment Plan? The role of CIMS in the development of the Highway Investment Plan will be to provide MnDOT valuable insight into how it could prioritize, time, and design its investments to take greatest advantage of partnering or other opportunities on particular corridors. While this insight will inform the Highway Investment Plan, CIMS itself is not a forum for investment decision making. Decisions made via the Highway Investment Plan about how to spend transportation dollars and which projects to fund will be shaped by statewide and district efforts that enable MnDOT and its partners to consider system-level tradeoffs within a fiscally constrained budget. Once the Highway Investment Plan is adopted in early 2013, the CIMS process will repeat with MnDOT sharing information about what the new Highway Investment Plan means on the corridor level and facilitating discussions with our partners around how it can be implemented in collaborative and innovative ways. CIMS Frequently Asked Questions - 517112 The Highway Investment Plan will also allocate funding to address regional and local priorities. DIMS will be a key process for determining how those funds are distributed in future years. n w N O N c N 3 3 m v w N O F-+ H W 3 3 9 7 w N O N A CIMS Frequently Asked Questions - 517112 What is the relationship between CIMS and the Minnesota GO vision? In November 2011, MnDOT adopted the Minnesota GO Vision, which established principles to guide future policy and investment decisions. The vision established a connection between transportation and the health of people, the economy and the environment. The guiding principles are: • leverage public investment to achieve multiple ~ ~'~`~ - "" ~r3~dw ` ' purposes . ~~~ , .. ~t I • Ensure accessibility I • Build to a maintainable scale ~ Stalewi~ Muttimodal • Ensure regional connections rrartsparlation Pizn • Integrate safety • Emphasize reliable and predictable options • Strategically fix the system Local; Regbnal, 2g-YearSgle Melropoliten8 Highway • Use partnerships 7d6al Plans investment Plan The vision and guiding principles set a direction for MnDOT's planning efforts and the overall CIMS process. CIMS What is the relationship between CIMS and ongoing studies? Modal, Safety, Corgestion ManagemenC:and Speda(ty :Plans 8 Bridles The information presented through CIMS for corridors reflects adopted plans or programs. Studies relevant to a corridor may be discussed, but specific strategies or recommendations in a study will not be included in the CIMS maps until adopted in a plan or program. What is MnDOT planning to do with the input it receives through the CIMS meetings? MnDOT will review CIMS input as it updates the 20-Year State Highway Investment Plan. Input, suggestions and other concepts that arise from CIMS discussions will also be considered for future study or for submission for funding through the CIMS solicitation. After the 20-Year State Highway Investment Plan is updated in early 2013, MnDOT will channel corridor-related investment information from the plan along with items under consideration or study from CIMS discussions into a 10 Year Outlook for each corridor, which will be updated annually. mo~~NNESpr9Zo ~?iF~~QO ~~F TRP~ www.mndot.gov/cims CIMS Frequently Asked Questions - 517/12 q June 2012 INFORMATION Mee6ing Calendar May 2012 Ju12012 1 2 S M T W T F S S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6 7 8 9 10 I I 12 8 9 10 I I 12 13 14 13 14 IS 16 17 18 19 IS 16 17 18 19 20 21 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 22 ?3 24 25 26 ?7 28 27 ?8 29 30 31 29 30 31 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 5:30 PM HRA Filing Closes 6:30 PM Fire zoo RM-a go aM ae Nusbnsdek Retirement 6:30 PM City Council Service Task Force ovan eo~ae~xnviry tamer, ais P<ono~ ]:DO PM RrverFOnt ConwrtSeries Begins Last Day b W Ndraw hom FJeNOn 10 11 1 2 13 14 15 16 5:30 PM EDA 3:30 PM Utilities 6:30 PM Parks ArtSoup 6:30 PM City Councl Commission @ ERMU and Recreation Commission Festival Downtown 7:00 PM School Boartl 6:30 PM Planning Commission 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 6:30 PM Ciry 8:30 AM Energy 6:00 PM HPC Council City C i ommiss on 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 6:30 PM Downtown Ta sk 6:30 PM Planning Campaign Signs can be Force Commission put up today 7:00 PM School Workshop Boartl The study also provided a glimpse into the demographic and financial circumstances of struggling homeowners who sought help from mortgage counselors. According to the experiences of those seeking counseling in 2011, personal, mortgage and financial struggles are converging on many homeowners in Minnesota. The experiences reported by home owners offer new insights, such as: • Home owners are balancing mortgages on less income. The majority of home owners seeking help faced either a reduction in income (36%) or a total loss of income (24%) since first taking out their mortgage. These figures are consistent with the income challenges reported by home owners in previous years. • Mortgages have become unaffordable for many. 57% of home owners seeking counseling dedicate more than 30% of their monthly income to their mortgage - a recognized standard of an unaffordable mortgage. Twenty-Two percent of home owners reported dedicating more than half of their income to their mortgage payment. Minnesota experienced 21,298 foreclosures in 2011 and while the number of foreclosures is slowly declining, tens of thousands of families continue to struggle with their finances during this sluggish economic recovery. The Minnesota Homeownership Center will continue providing free counseling and support to homeowners seeking help in managing their mortgage. The services are available for free through 26 nonprofit partner agencies covering all of Minnesota. "As the economy and mortgages continue to falter, the Center will continue reaching out to homeowners across the state to let them know about this free resource that they can trust," added Gugin, who also cautioned struggling homeowners to be careful about who they work with to help avoid foreclosure, "No one who is struggling with mortgage payments should have to pay to get help, and never sign anything you don't fully understand. Homeownership Advisors are available throughout the state to help." ### The Minnesota Homeownership Center promotes and advances successful home ownership in Minnesota. Since 1993, The Center has worked to achieve its mission by empowering a network of more than 50 organizations to provide education and counseling services to potential home buyer and home owners working to sustain their mortgages. For more information, visit www.hocmn.org.