Before Tusayan can give money to residents in order to help pay for affordable housing, it has to follow a set of rules or by-laws laid down by the IRS to insure a legal foundation is properly formed. Although no housing has been built despite years of legal maneuvers, the Town Council, acting as the Grand Canyon Housing Foundation, adopted a set of bylaws and signed a 501 3C application.  The Board is made up of the Town Council and staff. The Chair is Mayor Craig Sanderson. The Vice Chair is Councilman John Schoppmann. Vice Mayor Becky Wirth is Secretary. Councilman Al Montoya is the Treasurer. Town Manager Eric Duthie is the Executive Director. Councilman John Rueter is a member of the board.

Duthie says the 501c3 must be formed before the Foundation can accept any money so that any contributors could get a tax deduction. Elling Halvorson and Stilo are expected to contribute which could create some complications because they would benefit financially from the development project that is related to the affordable housing project.

Technically, the Foundation would approve all transactions but Duthie envisions a system where an outside party determines who receives financial assistance.

It could take as long as six months to form the housing foundation.

The money would be handed out on a sliding scale based on financial need. Its primary use would be to cover a down payment and closing costs, with a cap of about $25,000. The mortgage would still have to be covered by the homeowner.  These are tentative plans that can be changed. That means many rank and file workers may not have the income to make this possible.

The newly formed Foundation Board also signed off on a conflict of interest document to make sure the Board’s actions benefit the public, not themselves.