§ 1006. Technical services and assistance to corporations and rural areas. 1. In accordance with the policy of this article, the division shall encourage the creation, development and strengthening of new not-for-profit corporations to perform housing preservation and community renewal activities in the rural areas of the state, and is authorized to take all steps necessary to that end. The division shall provide technical services and assistance to not-for-profit corporations seeking to serve the housing or community renewal needs of rural areas, to better enable such corporations to meet the requirements of, and obtain funding under this article or any other program of governmental assistance, federal, state or local, to carry out their present and proposed activities, and otherwise to further the purposes and policy of this article. Such services and assistance may be provided through the division's own personnel and facilities, through contractual services, or otherwise.

2. The affordable housing corporation or the housing trust fund corporation, as the case may be, shall provide an incentive grant to each corporation that is awarded a contract pursuant to article eighteen or nineteen of this chapter. Such incentive grants shall consist of the payment of an additional sum of money equal to three percent of the amount payable to such corporation pursuant to each contract provided, however, that such payment shall not be counted against the per dwelling unit total imposed by subdivision one of section eleven hundred two of this chapter or the per dwelling unit limitation imposed by subdivision one of section eleven hundred twelve of this chapter, and provided further that such additional amount shall not exceed forty thousand dollars per contract. Such incentive grant shall be utilized either for purposes consistent with the provisions of this article or for the cost of housing preservation and community renewal activities related to such contract and shall not be subject to the limitation on the amount of funds which may be received by corporations contained in subdivision four of section one thousand three of this article. Such incentive grant shall be added to and considered a payment under the contract for purposes of allocating funds to any single municipality.