On July 21, the NRP Policy Board passed a resolution that stated its position on NRP's future including how the program should be funded and governed. The resolution has been forwarded to Mayor R.T. Rybak and the Minneapolis City Council for use in their upcoming budget deliberations.

In its resolution, the NRP Policy Board called for annual funding of $11 million as well as the continuation of the Joint Powers governing board that was established in 1991.

The board also recommended that federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds be used to supplement diminishing Common Project revenues as a way of funding the NRP in the future thus avoiding the use of city general fund revenues.

The board based its resolution on the results of a series of recent public meetings and a citywide survey on the NRP. The board further cited the results of an independent evaluation of the NRP published in June, 2000, that showed evidence that the NRP has had a statistically significant impact on improving the city's housing stock, increasing homeownership rates throughout the city and fostering greater inter-governmental collaboration.

The resolution marks the culmination of more than seven months of work that began with a joint NRP Policy Board/City of Minneapolis staff work group charged with developing options that specifically addressed long-term funding, governance and staff support for the NRP in the face of mounting city budget constraints.

*You will need a copy of Acrobat Reader to view the complete resolution.

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