Charleston County Council committees on April 24 heard a detailed quarterly update on housing programs funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and local accommodation tax dollars, and approved staff requests to pursue several funding and program steps, including authorization to apply for HUD's Section 108 loan guarantee program.

The update, presented by county staff, described a multi-year set of actions the council backed — a $20,000,000 ARPA allocation for a gap- and infill-financing program; purchases of 18 homes from the Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority to preserve affordability; expanded critical home repair funding; a new disaster assistance program; and pilot land-acquisition grants. "There are 72 slides. I'm sure y'all are excited," one presenter said by way of opening, then reviewed year-by-year decisions that led to current projects and awards.

The report said the county's critical home repair program has helped 256 households to date and that the county intends to spend the remainder of the most recent allocation by Dec. 31. Louella Smalls, Community Development and Revitalization Director, said the county has $928,000 available through a new Disaster Assistance Program to repair homes damaged by extreme weather; at a maximum repair cap of $30,000 per home, staff estimated the program could serve roughly 30–40 houses and requested targeted outreach in Adams Run, Hollywood, St. Paul, Johns Island and Edisto Island.

The update also covered preservation and production work: the Charleston Homes initiative (18 purchased units) has completed several renovations and occupancy agreements; gap and infill financing funded by ARPA and HOME/HUD awards has produced both rental and ownership projects (staff reported awards and construction at sites including Archer School Apartments, Esau Jenkins and 180 Place); and the county's land-acquisition pilot has made multiple awards to nonprofit developers. Staff said the gap/infill effort is intended to yield about 671 rental units and 56 home‑ownership units across the county.

Staff asked council to authorize an application for HUD's Section 108 loan guarantee program for up to $9,000,000 as another funding tool. Staff emphasized this stage is only approval to prepare and submit an application; any actual loan and projects would return to council for separate approval. County staff warned that Section 108 borrowing would require using future HUD entitlement funds (CDBG/HUD) as collateral and that, should a project default, those future funds could be at risk. "We would have to advise you that we have to put our CDBG HUD funds up as collateral," staff said.

Council members asked several pointed questions about who benefits from the county's programs. Councilman Darby pressed the committee on the distinction between broadly "affordable housing" and deeper subsidies for very-low and extremely-low income households, asking, "What are we doing for those?" Committee members and staff said many of the projects include units at 30–60% of Area Median Income (AMI) and that some gap-funded projects were targeted at 30–60% AMI, but that program design can vary by project and by funding source.

Other program details reported to council:
- Critical home repair: $4,000,000 initially allotted; 256 homes repaired so far; an additional $1,000,000 was allocated near the end of the prior year and contracts are in place; staff requested reallocation of $91,000 from East Cooper Faith Network to East Cooper Habitat for Humanity and Operations Homes because of geographic limits on the East Cooper contractor's service area.
- Charleston Homes: 18 homes purchased from the housing authority; some units finished and occupied, three in progress, seven under executed agreements (developers given 240 days to complete), two demolished and five slated for council action on the third reading of an ordinance.
- Disaster Assistance Program: $928,000 available; targeted outreach recommended for Adams Run, Hollywood, St. Paul, Johns Island and Edisto Island; estimated capacity of 30–40 houses given the $30,000 per-house cap.
- Well/Septic/Utility program: in the past year staff reported 28 well replacements, 13 septic tanks and 10 sewer connections; Snowden infrastructure project has $4,500,000 allocated ($4M infrastructure + $500k connections) with multi-segment construction and an anticipated completion in January 2026.
- Gateway to Housing and Just Home: programs to reduce placement barriers for people with eviction records, criminal histories or repeated jail stays. The Just Home model links an intake specialist in the detention center to 180 Place transitional housing and to affordable units provided by Humanities Foundation; staff said MacArthur Foundation funds ($745,000 grant plus a $2,000,000 program-related investment to Humanities Foundation) and county funds are part of the model. Staff requested authority to apply for and accept up to $200,000 from MacArthur to continue Just Home through the summer.
- Gap/land-acquisition pilot: staff reported round‑1 awards made to Crosspoint ($500,000, conversion of 32 market-rate units to restricted units for 20 years), East Cooper Habitat ($350,000 for four ownership homes), and Palmetto Community Action Partnership ($250,000 for two homeownership lots with a 30‑year affordability term); West Ashley multifamily award was withdrawn and funds returned for round 2. Round 2 will have about $1,400,000 available.
- Local Housing Trust Fund: council previously allocated ATAX dollars ($4,150,000 then another $4,200,000) to seed a revolving loan program; the county signed an agreement with the loan fund for administration and expects to accept applications in May; staff proposed recommending an additional $4,250,000 in the working FY26 budget.

Votes at a glance (housing-related committee actions taken April 24):
- Approve HUD Section 108 loan guarantee program exploration (motion to authorize staff to prepare and apply): approved (committee vote; motion: "approve the HUD Section 108 loan guarantee program"; staff will return with underwriting and project-level recommendations; staff noted CDBG/HUD funds would be collateral).
- Critical Home Repair reallocation (move $91,000 from East Cooper Faith Network to Habitat for Humanity/Operations Homes): approved.
- Disaster Assistance Program outreach focus (Adams Run, Hollywood, St. Paul, Johns Island, Edisto Island): approved.
- Lincolnville sewer/connection project (approval to proceed with revised scope after other grants fell through): approved.
- Just Home continuation (authority to apply for/accept up to $200,000 from MacArthur Foundation): approved.
(Committee records did not include roll-call tallies for these committee approvals in the transcript excerpt.)

Why this matters: the actions and allocations discussed on April 24 commit or prepare county staff to deploy federal, state and local funding toward both preservation of existing affordable housing and production of new units, while testing new financing tools. Staff emphasized monitoring and compliance requirements for subsidy and tax-abatement programs and warned that use of Section 108 would put future HUD entitlement funds at risk if projects defaulted.

What happens next: staff will prepare the Section 108 application and return to council with underwriting and proposed project uses before any loan is made; the local housing trust fund will begin accepting applications per its agreement with the loan fund; several Charleston Homes units are scheduled for final ordinance action and contract execution at the council meeting that follows.

Ending: Council members praised staff and prior councils for assembling the program landscape, while several members urged continued focus on the lowest AMI households and on program monitoring to ensure long-term affordability.