The mayor of Pittsfield, Massachusetts is moving to re-introduce a loan program for home improvements after the last city council voted it down in 2019.
Mayor Linda Tyer said she intended to bring back her “At Home In Pittsfield” program after she won a second four-year term in November. Now, that plan is taking shape.
“We’re going to convene our original work group next week and we’re going to refresh our memories on what our original proposal was," Tyer told WAMC. "We’re going to review how the proposal had gotten modified by the prior city council, and we’re going to talk about whether we want to go back to our original vision, how much money we actually want to propose for the program.”
The program originally called for the city to spend $250,000 from its economic development fund on a pilot version of the plan that would offer Pittsfield residents – specifically those in economically depressed neighborhoods – no interest loans to make external improvements to their homes.
City Councilors last year criticized both the funding source and the idea that it offered different loan terms to different kinds of residents.