NEBRASKA, November 12 - Media Contacts:  

Taylor Gage, 402-471-1970

Justin Pinkerman, 402-471-1967

Media Release:

Gov. Ricketts & Aurora Community Leaders Celebrate New Housing Project

Gov. Ricketts congratulates the community of Aurora on its new housing project.

AURORA – Today, Governor Pete Ricketts and leaders in Aurora celebrated the groundbreaking of a new housing development.  The 64-lot subdivision is being constructed to help meet the need for high-quality, affordable housing in Hamilton County.

In April 2021, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) awarded a $1 million grant to the Aurora Housing Development Corporation (AHDC) through the Rural Workforce Housing Fund (RWHF).  Together, the Aurora community ($750,000) and Nebraska Investment Finance Authority ($250,000) contributed $1 million to match the State’s grant.  With the $2 million of combined funds, AHDC has created a revolving workforce housing fund.  The revolving fund is being used to build reasonably priced homes for working families.  Upon sale of the homes, money is repaid to the fund and can be loaned again.  This creates an ongoing source of funding so that the Aurora community can continue to construct new homes. 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hamilton County grew by 3.3% from 2010 to 2020.  Its 2020 census population of 9,429 is the county’s largest since 1940.  In August, Aurora earned recertification from DED as an Economic Development Certified Community in recognition of its continuing efforts to upgrade infrastructure and attract new businesses. 

In 2017, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB 518, which created the Rural Workforce Housing Fund in the amount of $7 million.  In 2020, State Senators allocated an additional $10 million for the fund through LB 1008, the Legislature’s mainline budget bill.  The RWHF supports communities in rural counties (those with less than 100,000 people) as they work to increase inventories of affordable housing.  From 2018-2020, the RWHF has already supported the construction of nearly 800 new housing units and the rehabilitation of more than 30 others.