The city of Troy is celebrating a new home improvement program.
The program will use $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to give eligible homeowners $20,000 toward home improvements.
First-term Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello announced it Monday at Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program headquarters on River Street.
She says the original version dating back to her time on the city council provided $5,000 in assistance, adding the expanded program will help revitalize the city.
“It’s all about dominoing these monies into neighborhood revitalization, into economic development, into building pride in our neighborhoods,” Mantello said.
Noah Baum, TRIP’s President and CEO, says the original program has already started positive change in the Collar City.
“We have to date, we have given out funds for 20 projects, and we have 13 more that are pending, with additional 150 slots, probably less with the announcement that will be expanding those dollars. And that's really going to help, because we all know that in order to paint a house, it's a lot more than $5,000 to do that,” Baum said.
Baum says about $900,000 of the original funding remains.
TRIP Chief Financial Officer Eric Baral says, while the money is a pure grant, it isn’t just being handed out.
“There are some income verifications along with this program. Depending on your income, you have to pay at least 20 percent or 10 percent out of pocket for the project in question,” Baral said.
Mantello says the program is intended to make neighbors work together.
Troy City Council President Sue Steele, a Democrat, says while there’s no such thing as enough money for home renovations, this is a good start.
“At least we're giving it a try, and we are investing in our housing stock through this program. So it's a great partnership with TRIP. They have existing relationships with programs like this, so it was a very good fit,” Steele said.
Steele, who also chairs the Troy Housing Authority Board, says the city needs incentives to help new homeowners make down payments as well during a statewide housing crunch.
“We need the housing itself. We need more apartments. We need more single-family homes, starter homes. They're just young couples looking to buy can't find anything in their price range,” Steele said.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, just over a third of Trojans own their home, in comparison to the statewide average of about 54 percent. About a fifth of units are one-bedroom, with more than 63 percent two- or three-bedroom residences as of 2022. Average rent as of that year was about $1,100, with Zillow data reporting the current average cost of a single-family home at north of $270,000.
