Municipal Financing
HIA Financing Coordination
When the project is bigger than the reserves, Minnesota gives associations one more door: a Housing Improvement Area. Your city finances the common-element work, and owners repay it over time through fees collected like property taxes. Getting through that door takes an owner petition, a long-term plan, and a city council vote. TruPoint coordinates the entire path, on the board's side of the table.
The Tool
What an HIA is
A Housing Improvement Area is a financing tool under Minnesota law, Minn. Stat. 428A.11 to 428A.21. Your city, or its EDA or HRA, lends the association money for improvements to common elements: roofs, siding, roadways, walkways. The loan is repaid through fees on each unit, collected with property taxes over a set term. Cities treat it as a last resort, for associations that cannot finance the work any other way, and several metro cities and county agencies run active programs.
The Path
What it takes
An HIA starts with the owners, not the city. At least 50 percent of unit owners must petition for it, and if 45 percent or more object, it does not happen. The city requires a defined scope of improvements, the association's financials, and a long-term plan for operating, maintaining, and improving the common elements. Then come the public hearings, the ordinance, and the fee resolution. Most cities add their own application requirements, deposits, and fees on top.
Our Role
What TruPoint does
We coordinate the board's side of the entire process.
- Feasibility first. Does your association fit your city's program, and is an HIA actually your best door? A straight answer before anyone spends real money.
- The paper trail. Documenting the financing gap, assembling the application, and aligning the project scope with what the city needs to see.
- The petition. Owner communication and meeting support, so the threshold is earned with clear information.
- The city process. Hearings, questions, and follow-through until the ordinance and the fee resolution are done.
- The project itself. The same competitive sealed-bid process we run on every TruPoint project, so the money the city lends is spent right.
Legal questions go to the association's attorney, and every decision stays where it belongs, with the board.
The Window
Why now
Under current law, cities' authority to establish new HIAs expires June 30, 2028 unless the legislature extends it. A board weighing a major project should find out whether this door is open before it closes.
For Managers
A note for managers
This is a clean referral. Municipal financing is nobody's in-house lane, and no manager should have to staff it. Bring us in, and the win lands on your team.
Weighing a project bigger than the reserves?
Talk it through with us. A straight answer about whether the HIA door fits your association.