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A top lawmaker says he wants a guarantee from Gov. Haley Barbour that consumers, rather than contractors, will benefit from the governor's proposed tax cut on modular housing - the sole issue in a special legislative session that starts Thursday. "Usually, the homeowner does not pay the tax directly," House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, said in a written statement Wednesday. "Instead, it is paid by the contractor when he buys the modular home and simply becomes a part of the cost of construction. The homeowner never sees it." Barbour says decreasing the tax rate on modular homes could help speed up rebuilding in south Mississippi, where thousands of people are still waiting to rebuild their homes more than 13 months after Hurricane Katrina. The governor's spokesman, Pete Smith, said lowering the tax rate would benefit home buyers.
Gov. Haley Barbour has set a Thursday special session for lawmakers to consider proposals that would reduce the cost of modular home construction on the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast. The special session will convene at noon, said Barbour spokesman Pete Smith. Specifically, lawmakers will be asked to reduce the state's tax on modular homes by $4,000 to $6,000 per home.It is the same proposal that passed the Senate but died in the House Ways and Means Committee when Chairman Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg, didn't bring it up for a vote during a special session in August. Modular houses are made in factories then shipped to home sites and erected on slabs. Because modulars are made to meet local building codes, they're often allowed to be put in places where mobile homes are excluded from permanent placement.
ARCADIA -- Let's say a potential home buyer finds the perfect condominium overlooking Gulf of Mexico sunsets. It's a dream come true. The perfect place in paradise. It's priced at $1.3 million. Our potential buyer can only dream of affording it. Based on his means, he'll have to find another home, in another place. This housing is not affordable. His means will not support his desires. That in a nutshell is the problem for many in DeSoto County in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. That Category 4 hurricane blew away much of the inexpensive housing in the county, sending residents into Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile homes or cramming them into existing homes with relatives or friends. And since that fateful Friday the 13th of August in 2004, the cost to buy, build or rent a dwelling here has stretched beyond the finances of thousands.
Jodie and Paul Samala's long journey from a cramped, overpriced apartment to the joys of owning a roomy, affordable house began soon after Hurricane Ivan's arrival two years ago."We were in a rental at the time," said Jodie Samala. "My husband and I almost bought a house before Ivan. But after the storm, the owners backed out."In the immediate wake of the hurricane, Paul Samala lost his job at the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand hotel, which is set to reopen in November after months of storm repairs.The couple and their small child were forced to move in with relatives.Because Ivan destroyed some 2,000 rental units in the greater Pensacola area, finding an affordable unit was a major challenge, Jodie Samala said.Eventually the Samalas found a rental apartment, but their monthly payments soared from $675 to $1,100, well beyond what they could afford."We knew we had to do something," she said.What they did was approach the City of Pensacola's Housing Department and apply for down-payment assistance through the state's Hurricane Housing Recovery Program.Because the Samalas' gross income was about 80 percent of the median average for the Pensacola area, the family of three qualified for a $50,000 grant, which would be held by the city and treated as a second mortgage.That grant money, coupled with the Samalas' conventional first mortgage, helped them purchase a new home in June and effectively lowered their monthly payments to a figure that, by general rule, must be less than 30 percent of gross family income.And to sweeten the deal, $10,000 of the Samalas' $50,000 second mortgage will be forgiven after the first year if they decide to sell the home, according to Jimmie McFall, manager of the city's SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) program.The remaining $40,000 will be forgiven once the mortgage is paid."We probably would have left Pensacola had we not be able to buy an affordable home," said Jodie Samala, a 1993 graduate of Catholic High School.McFall says Hurricane Housing Recovery Program money, which may run out within the year, is being maximized in the Escambia and Santa Rosa area.Using those funds, and taking advantage of several in-fill vacant lots, McFall says the city has more than 30 affordable housing units under construction, with more on the way.A home of her ownKaren Incera is another grateful recipient of Hurricane Housing Recovery Program money and was one of the fortunate ones to be given, at no cost to her, a vacant in-fill lot acquired by the city.The former Miami resident, who works for Deep South Crane Rentals Inc., said she expects to move into her new home on Coyle Street early next month."Someone mentioned the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program to me, and I called, and they gave me a pamphlet," said Incera, a single mother of three.
After days of casual flirting with the latest psychological barrier, the Dow Jones industrial average finished the week above 12,000 points, while the other two major indexes headed in opposite directions. The Dow rose 41.86, or 0.35 percent, on the week to close at 12,002.37. The S&P 500 index rose 2.98, or 0.22 percent, to close at 1368.60. The Nasdaq fell 14.99, or 0.64 percent, to close at 2342.30. .
With more than 20 years of success in the remodeling and contracting industries in the Odessa and Midland, Texas, markets, well known entrepreneur Jim Sparr makes his most aggressive move yet--partnering with market leader Slide-Lok to establish Slide-Lok of San Antonio. The San Antonio-based company becomes the latest in a string of U.S. and Canadian garage storage Master Dealerships bearing the Slide-Lok name and featuring the market leaders products. Texas currently tops the 2006 state rankings as the leader in new home building, while San Antonio, the 17th ranked MSA for home building is in the top 5 percentof all US MSAs. The new Slide-Lok of San Antonio Master Dealership will serve the growing San Antonio metro area by selling and installing the leading solution in space saving, modular, adaptable garage storage systemsSlide-Lok.
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