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"Most importantly, through these leadership summits we've built a strong foundation of mutual understanding and respect that can survive the inevitable disagreements that will come up from time to time. We've learned to work together when we agree, and we've learned how to still make progress even when we disagree. As a result, both NAHB and NACo are becoming better and better at meeting the full range of our members' needs."
The issues on which NAHB and NACo agreed to cooperate include:
- Working to ensure that the secondary mortgage market remains strong and dynamic
- Potential joint research on storm water runoff best practices
- Studying the feasibility of a quality assurance/quality control program in which builders could be certified as using construction best practices and participating counties would offer certified builders an expedited inspection process
The two organizations also discussed an innovative pre-application process that would save developers time and money on development approvals while also increasing citizen and county input in the planning phases of a development. Other topics addressed by the senior officers included innovative infrastructure finance mechanisms as an alternative to impact fees and ways of increasing the supply of housing that is affordable for working families.
“To the extent that we can bring these two great organizations together to tackle common problems, we can bring real benefits to counties, to home owners and to home builders,” Rayburn said. “This is a strong partnership because it is a productive partnership.”
The senior officers of both organizations said that they hope to meet again before the end of the year to seek more progress and specific action on some of these issues. This could include a joint NACo-NAHB presentation at NAHB’s State and Local Government Affairs Conference on Nov. 5 in Biloxi, MS.
There is also a possibility of NAHB participating in a roundtable discussion of regulatory barriers at NACo’s annual meeting in Phoenix later this year.
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