Senators raise limit for homeownership program

From the Daily News:

ST. THOMAS - The V.I. Senate unanimously approved legislation Thursday to amend local laws to establish an upper income limit allowing blue-collar workers to participate in the V.I. Housing Finance Authority's Home and Land Ownership Program.

The bill increases the maximum household income for program participants to 3Ã? times the median personal income in the island district where the participants live. This would increase eligibility to people with a household income of $130,725 in the St. Thomas-St. John District and a household income of $104,650 on St. Croix.

The program, which was created in 1981 by the Legislature, presents affordable home ownership opportunities to low to moderate income families in the form of low-interest loans. As the program currently operates, people with household incomes ranging from $18,000 to 2Ã? times the median personal income in their district are eligible.

According to the Housing Finance Authority statistics, the median income for a person in the St. Thomas-St. John District is $37,350 and the median income for a person in the St. Croix district is $29,900. The maximum household income for people currently participating in the program in the St. Thomas-St. John district is $93,375 and the maximum household income for people in St. Croix is $74,750.