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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1981)
SPILYAY TYMOO NOVEMBER 19,1981 PAGE 13 District meeting tonight to discuss: Proposed credit and housing referendum District meetings have been scheduled to share inform ation on a proposed credit and housing referendum, and to seek direction from members on the referendum format. The Agency/ Seekseequa districts will meet at the Agency Longhouse today, Nov. 19, at 1:00 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. this evening following a meal. The Simnasho District met Nov. 17 to discuss the items. The items under discussion include $2,000,000 for the Credit D epartm ent and $2,000,000 f o ra revolving Housing and Subdivision Construction Fund. Both items would be used for services to tribal members. The following list of questions arid answers relate to the items to be discussed. Questions about the Credit Dept. funds Question: Is the Department Broke? Credit Answer: No, but the funds that we have (from the 1978 re fe re n d u m ) have been committed to a variety of projects, primarily homes and some business loans. Question: How can the Credit Department continue to make small loans if all funds are committed. Answer: Each month the Department collects about $200,000 in loan payments. Much of these monies are returned to the credit account to be relent to customers. Question: Where have the credit funds gone or how has the money been used? Answer We have made 279 loans to Tribal members for the purpose of buying homes. P resently we have ovef $5,300,000 in various home loans. We have over $1,360,000 outstanding in 57 loans for b u s in e s s a n d f a r m in g enterprises. In auto, personal and all other loans we have over $3,150,000. We have about 1550 loans on our books and more than $9,890,000 in loan dollars outstanding. If you add in the total committed funds on projects in process our total loans outstanding will exceed $10,250,000. Answer: The authority to liquidate defaulted loans is contained in the Tribal Credit Code. The Credit Department will first exhaust every effort to work with the borrower in an effort to avoid liquidation of pledged assets. Question: Does the Credit Office have many delinquent or past due loans? Answer: Presently we have about $390,000 in past due loan payments that represents just under 4% of the total amount of loans outstanding. Question: Why don’t people keep their payments up to date? Answer: There are many reasons; some people are out of work, others over obligate themselves. A few people are difficult to work with, but foi the most part our customers are h o n e s t an d pay th e ir obligations well. Question: How do I find out about building a home? Answer: Contact the Credit Manager in the Credit Office to discuss the details if financing is going to be needed. Question: How will the additional funds be used by Credit? Answer: The monies will be used in all areas of credit, auto, business, personal or housing to qualified borrowers. Question: Can any Tribal member get a loan to buy a Question: What happens to home? the interest income that is Answer. Home loans are a long collected on loans? term situation and a person financing a home must be Answer: The Credit office pays settled with adequate income all of its salaries and expenses from steady employment to be from the interest earnings, the able to pay for and maintain amount of money left after the home. Not all people that expenses goes back into the apply are approved because credit account to be loaned oat some do n o t m eet the to our customers. qualifications. We do try to Question: How much money assist as many people as goes back to the loan account possible in this area. to be reloaned to Tribal members? Question: Can the Tribe foreclose on my mortgage and repossess my home if I don’t make the payments? Answer: About $250,000 a year goes back into the loan funds accounts, not including more than $2,000,000 in refinanced loans. Questions about the proposed revolving housing and subdivision construction fund— Question: What is the purpose from fire. Mobile homes are of a $2,000,000 revolving still the answer for some housing and subdivision fund? people. Answer: The revolving fund Question: Why is money would create an on-going needed for development of program to allow money from homesites? the sales of tribally built homes to be re-used for new home Answer: The money is needed construction. Also, the fund to provide sites for tribally built would be used to develop homes and individually built subdivision homesites when homes. Any money available federal funds are not available from BIA of IHS would be used to offset tribal funds. Question: Who could use such a fund? Question: Where would the A nsw er: T rib al m em bers fir st 20 h o m e site s be interested in lower cost tribally developed? constructed homes in rural or Answer: The proposed location community areas could use the of the 20 homesites would be fund. The cost for each home near Wolf Point, cast of Eagle would be less because more Butte and Simnasho—Kah- than one home would be built Nee-Ta Highway (near Delbert at a time, such as in Greeley F rank and M abie Eyle’s Heights homes and Beula Switzler’s homes, east of the old Question: Could the money be McKinley ranch). used for m obile homes purchases? Question: How large would the Answer: No, individual loans homesites be? for mobile home purchases (and individual built homes) Answer: Each homesite would would still be financed through be 2 acres or larger in size. The th e C re d it D e p a rtm e n t. sites would be served by the However, starter-homes could new Water Supply System be built through the revolving from the Deschutes River fund—which would cost about treatment plant. the same as mobile homes. Question: Why not build the subdivision at Dry Creek or the Question: Why build a starter- Agency? home when mobile homes are so much faster to move into? A nsw er: R u ra l h o u sin g expansion in the Dry Creek cannot be developed until Answer: The starter-home is area a study is completed on sewage aim ed at younger tribal disposal needs for that area. A m em bers who w ant the flexibility to expand the size of few homesites are already in the Greeley their home in the future. Also, available Heights subdivision, can starter-homes are more easily be expanded after the which Agency’s renovated and are usually safer sewage treatment system is improved. Also homesites are now available in the Simnasho subdivision. Question: How many people on the Housing waiting list would be interested in one of the homesites? A n s w e r: M o s t o f th e approximately 170 people on the waiting list would probably be interested in a homesite. However, many of these people are unemployed and need subsidized housing or low cost rentals. A certain number of people who are now in rental housing would qualify for a starter-home or similar cost housing. Question: Who would oversee the revolving fund? Answer: The Com m unity Services Manager would be responsible for use of the fund, although no money would be expended w ith o u t T rib al Council approval. Question: What is planned for 1982? Answer: Proposed for 1982 are 10 starter-homes and 20 rural homesites. Q uestion: W ill an oth er referendum be needed to replenish the revolving fund? Answer: Another referendum will eventually be needed, depending on how much m o n e y is n e e d e d f o r su b d iv isio n d evelopm ent. Also, because of inflation am I the increasing cost of horn : construction, fewer and fewe' homes could be built over t h : years. District Meeting Tonight — Nov. 19 Agency Longhouse To discuss possible Credit & Housing Referendum Dinner—6 p.m. Meeting— 7 p.m.
