The foundation is preparing to embark on a $19 million fundraising campaign that will provide partner funds to the Olmsted County Housing and Redevelopment Authority.
The county HRA will in 2016 levy a property tax to fund affordable housing efforts. That levy could raise as much as $2.5 million, but a recent HRA business plan based its figures on a $1 million levy. Rochester Area Foundation, Olmsted County and Mayo Clinic partnered to commission a housing study. Maxfield Research delivered the results of the study in February 2014 and it showed significant gaps in the county’s availability and affordability of housing.