Napa County Garners National Recognition For ADU Forgivable Loan Program

Press release from the Napa County Government:

NAPA COUNTY, CA — Napa County has been selected as a recipient of the 2024 National Association of Counties Achievement Awards. The NACo Awards recognize Napa County’s Affordable Accessory Dwelling Unit —AADU — Forgivable Loan Program as an outstanding government program for the Best-In-Category of "Community and Economic Development."

Napa County was chosen from among 102 applicants in this category.

“This award is an honor and a testament to the hard work of our small team here at Napa County who have worked to bring this program to life,” said Director of Housing and Homeless Services Jennifer Palmer. “I’m even more so grateful to work for a County with the kind of visionary leadership that created the enabling environment for this work to be possible in the first place. It is gratifying to have this combination of vision and hard work recognized at a national level, amplifying our local investments to other communities to truly scale the innovation across the Country.”

Launched in January 2023, Napa County’s AADU Forgivable Loan Program addresses the county’s housing challenge through a creative, scalable solution: an accelerated AADU construction program through forgivable loans. The program scales housing development at lower costs by leveraging private-sector finance through a public-private model. The program incentivizes homeowners to build AADUs by offering up to $105,000 in forgivable loans to build AADUs on their property. Homeowners are required to rent out their AADU at or below 80 percent of the area median income. As a result, neighborhoods are diversified by creating access to affordable workforce housing and housing density is increased without the need to re-zone for multi-family housing. Most importantly, it strengthens the social fabric of our community by addressing housing affordability for the workforce and the multi-faceted needs of homeowners, including intergenerational living.

The NACo Achievement Awards span 18 categories that recognize outstanding county government programs and services. This year’s awards had more than 1,400 applications. For the full list of 2024 NACo Achievement Awards recipients, visit the 2024 NACo Achievement Award Winners announcement page (National Association of Counties).

Learn more about Napa County’s AADU Forgivable Loan Program and/or apply today at the Affordable ADU Program: Forgivable Loan Opportunities web page.

This press release was produced by the Napa County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.