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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.13.25 HCDC PacketIf you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this program or event, please contact Brianna Thul at bthul@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5240. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Next Meeting: January 27, 2025 HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (HCDC) January 13, 2025 Regular Meeting – 6:30 PM Emma J. Harvat Hall 410 E Washington Street (City Hall) AGENDA: 1.Call to Order 2.Consideration of Meeting Minutes: October 21, 2024 3.Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda Commentators shall address the commission for no more than five minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items. 4.Review and Consider Recommendation to City Council on Approval of City Steps 2030, the Five-Year Consolidated Plan Each year, the City receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The purpose of City Steps 2030 is to help to improve the housing and living conditions of its residents, especially very low- and lower-income households, people experiencing homelessness, and people with special needs. City Steps 2030 was developed after analyzing available information and conducting numerous meetings, interviews, and surveys with various stakeholders and members of the public to identify and prioritize needs. Key information from the plan was previously presented to the Housing and Community Development Commission at the November 4th, 2024 City Council Joint Work Session. The commission will review and consider a recommendation to City Council to approve City Steps 2030. A public comment period began December 20, 2024 and will run through January 21, 2025. A public meeting is scheduled for January 21, 2025 where City Council will consider formal approval. City Steps 2030 will be submitted to HUD for review and approval on or before May 15, 2025, following the adoption of an Annual Action Plan for City Fiscal Year 2026. 5.Staff & Commission Updates This item includes an opportunity for brief updates from staff and commissioners. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion on updates. 6.Adjournment Housing and Community Development Commission Meeting Packet Contents January 13, 2025 Agenda Item #2 a)October 21, 2024 Draft HCDC Meeting Minutes Agenda Item #4 a)City Steps 2030 can viewed online at www.icgov.org/2030 or the link below: https://www.icgov.org/home/showpublisheddocument/2492/638702816842270000 b)Staff Memo Regarding Requested Follow-up from the November 4, 2024 Joint Work Session Agenda Item #5 a)Trip Connect Flyer MINUTES PRELIMINARY HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OCTOBER 21, 2024 – 6:30 PM FORMAL MEETING EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Daouda Balde, Maryann Dennis, Karol Krotz, Kiran Patel, Denise Szecsei, Kyle Vogel MEMBERS ABSENT: Horacio Borgen, George Kivarkis, James Pierce STAFF PRESENT: Erika Kubly, Brianna Thul, Sam Turnbull OTHERS PRESENT: Simon Andrew (The Housing Fellowship) RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: By a vote of 5-1 (Vogel opposed) the Commission voted to recommend that City Council approve Substantial Amendment #1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER: Vogel called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Balde introduced himself noting he is from West Africa moved to Iowa in April 2016. He used to work with Johnson County Food and Grow at Melrose and likes to help others in the community so volunteered for this commission. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: SEPTEMBER 16, 2024: Krotz moved to approve the minutes of September 16, 2024 with changes. Dennis seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the minutes were approved 6-0. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TOPICS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. REVIEW AND CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL ON APPROVAL OF SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENT #1 TO THE CITY'S FY24 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN: Vogel noted they have some federal monies that weren't spent, and staff is proposing using those funds towards the City’s GreenState and Hills Down Payment program to fund up to 12 additional households. There are also some other monies that weren't used by a couple other organizations that staff recommend allocating to The Housing Fellowship to buy two affordable rental units. Thul explained there were two projects from the FY24 Annual Action Plan that were not completed. One was United Action for Youth. UAY was awarded HOME funded to acquire and rehab transitional housing units, however, with federal funding there are a lot of restrictions and regulations attached. United Action for Youth canceled their project because it was able to proceed without federal funding and through a partnership with The Housing Fellowship. The second project was the Ronald Street student-built home, which was awarded $200,000 HOME funds. This project had to go through a historic preservation review which took longer than anticipated and therefore that project ultimately proceeded without federal funding. Staff would like to Agenda Item #2 Housing and Community Development Commission October 21, 2024 Page 2 of 6 2 reallocate the money from those two canceled HOME projects towards rental acquisition to honor the intent of the original projects. Dennis asked when the funds need to be spent. Thul explained typically it needs to be committed within two years and spent within four, however, with the way the appropriations have been structured, there are some waivers for the deadlines, but staff try to stick the standards in case anything changes. Since these are FY24 funds they need to commit those soon. Patel stated she recalls the Down Payment Assistance program changed its requirements and the homes no longer have to be in certain census blocks but now it's open citywide. Thul confirmed that was correct. Krotz asked regarding The Housing Fellowship and the two additional rental units, would those be for people under 80% or 60%? Thul replied that HOME requires under 60% for rentals. Krotz asked if it is possible for the Commission to place a suggestion to attempt to fund those for people under 40%? Kubly stated they can suggest, however, staff typically leaves it at the maximum when they fund projects like this. They also might be serving someone with a Housing Choice Voucher and so being able to get the maximum rents would be helpful, but the Commission can suggest what they wish. Dennis stated she thinks it’s a good suggestion, however for the folks that are administering the program and trying to do all the compliance it might be more work, and she also believes the majority of the folks that rent from The Housing Fellowship fall far below 60%. It’s also difficult to have only two rental homes that have to be under a certain amount because if somebody comes in and they're a couple dollars over they won’t quality. Vogel stated he feels like they're doing the shell game, they all voted and gave money to United Action for Youth. They also awarded money to The Housing Fellowship. Now without going through that process again, they are just deciding to take that money and just give it to The Housing Fellowship. Why can’t these funds go back into the next award cycle? Thul replied that the Commission could wait and put the funds into the next competitive round, but they would be asking staff to wait until July of next year to start any projects. Dennis agreed that waiting that long doesn’t leave the agency awarded with enough time. Simon Andrew (Director, The Housing Fellowship) wanted to address both of the questions raised by the Commission. First, regarding the income levels, the vast majority of the households The Housing Fellowship serves fall well below 60%, and in most cases even below 40%. The average household income for their tenants is $27,000 a year and they have large households to serve, sometimes up to 10 person households. Andrew stated they do like to have the limit set at 60% to serve the households that do have a voucher. Otherwise, they are basically turning down free federal money if it's restricted at the lower rate, because the voucher picks up that 60% rent. Krotz asked if somebody has an income of under $25,000 and they also have a voucher that would pay 50% of a person's rent. Andrew replied no, the voucher in that case would likely pay all of their rent. The voucher is structured that households shouldn't be paying more than their income so if their income is low enough, the voucher will pay all of their rent, up to a set cap of what a rent can be (which is based on average rents). If the voucher holder starts making more money, the voucher will pay less. The Housing Fellowship has many households that don't pay anything out of pocket. Krotz finds that really interesting because she falls in that category of having income below that amount but has never had all of her rent paid, she usually pays between 40% and 50%, sometimes up to 55% and she has a Housing Choice Voucher. Andrew noted that would be a question for City staff but The Housing Fellowship does have households with vouchers that pay $5 of the rent and the tenant is responsible for the rest up to the tenant not paying anything, the latter are usually families with children. Krotz asked if they ever have one-bedroom units on vouchers. Andrew replied yes, they have 17 one- bedrooms but those are limited to find, they are seeing right now the biggest demand is at the extremes, very large families and single person households. They do have quite a bit of two- and three- bedroom units, but not enough one-bedroom or larger than three-bedroom units. Housing and Community Development Commission October 21, 2024 Page 3 of 6 3 Andrew next addressed the question about the United Action for Youth (UAY) project and the student build project. The Housing Fellowship was really proud to partner with UAY to help that project go forward. He stated in both cases The Housing Fellowship is borrowing that money and taking on that debt with the hope and understanding that they would be able to access those unused HOME funds. He explained that UAY was in a position where they had eight homeless clients that they were serving between the ages of 16 and 22 that were already renting private apartments but weren't going to be able to continue in those apartments. UAY was afraid those individuals would be homeless again come July, when the lease was up, and when it the funding did not come through in a way that would allow them to purchase the house and they needed help. UAY first went to the Community Foundation and then they asked City staff and United Way if there was any way they could get bailed out and still be able to close on the house for these individuals. Effectively, they just needed a landlord with a borrowing capacity to be able to borrow the gap in the home purchase. The Housing Fellowship took over the purchase agreement as a way to help out one of their partner agencies to help them complete their mission, which in this case is the same mission, preventing more homeless individuals on the street. In this case, it was 16- to 22-year-olds that really had nowhere else to go. Andrew explained The Housing Fellowship would like to use the HOME funds from UAY to purchase a home they would have otherwise had to borrow money for. They are basically using the debt on the UAY purchase instead of the new acquisition and hoping to use the HOME funds for that new acquisition. The student build home on Ronalds Street, was a timing issue due to the school district calendar. Students are back in school in August, and they needed to start building in August. Due to the archeological review they weren't going to have the answers needed in time to get the students rolling. Again, The Housing Fellowship doesn’t have other funds for that project and had to incur a private debt at 7% interest to finish that construction. The Housing Fellowship is hoping to use the $200,000 for other acquisitions that will cash flow such that it will pay the debt on Ronalds Street. Because it is a student build project, they believe in the project so much they are willing to take a loss on that second house. So again, they are just hoping for that remaining $200,000 to be allocated to The Housing Fellowship so they can acquire additional properties that will help that cash flow picture. Dennis acknowledged it is sort of a shell game but one that has really good results for the community. Krotz asked if staff anticipates if any other agencies will raise concerns with this reallocation. Thul cannot speak for other applicants, but they are approaching the next CDBG and HOME funding round again in December so there's that funding available. Also, for affordable housing projects like this, the City contributes to the local Affordable Housing Fund, which is administered by the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County, so this isn't the only opportunity for affordable housing funds at the moment. Vogel noted he just intrinsically has a hard time with moving money from the other projects to a new project without a discussion about the merits of everybody's proposals. Perhaps that $310,000 could be used by an organization that plans to assist more than two households. Maybe someone wants to buy a $1.2 million 24-plex of one-bedrooms and just needs $310,000 for the down payment, and suddenly there are 24 households in Iowa City that can be assisted with the same $310,000 versus two. They are not getting the opportunity to have that discussion. He did acknowledge the pressure and extra work it puts on staff to do that work but those are simply his concerns with it. Krotz asked if this would go to City Council for final approval. Thul replied yes, this is currently in a 30-day public comment period and then it will go to City Council on November 4. Kubly also wanted to note, this is the standard process for a substantial amendment like this. This is the public process and they are following normal procedures to accommodate for changes that have happened since the initial Action Plan was approved. Dennis noted if they were to put the money back for the next round it again lowers the amount of time that somebody has to finish the project and if that project isn't finished within the guidelines that money goes back to Washington, DC, and everyone loses the money. Kubly noted they do substantial amendments all Housing and Community Development Commission October 21, 2024 Page 4 of 6 4 the time. Thul agreed it is common for staff to bring this Commission substantial amendments to the Consolidated Plan. Krotz asked if The Housing Fellowship will be using the funding for rental housing, specifically a duplex. Andrew replied not necessarily, they own 211 rental housing units and they range from single family homes, duplexes, town homes, and they look at zero lots basically the same as single family homes. There are a couple that they have their eye on now to acquire and will probably acquire three more in the next nine months, in addition to, hopefully, these two. Krotz wondered if they had a specific property in mind to acquire if they were awarded these funds. Andrew replied they are always looking and currently there is a duplex for sale on Muscatine that's real close to a few other units that they own and that's always very attractive, just for efficiency of maintenance. Andrew wanted to state as well, effectively this is a mechanism to get done projects that the Commission has approved, but the projects wouldn’t have happened without this mechanism, so it really is a way to get them done the projects that this Commission initially considered and approved. If The Housing Fellowship had not stepped in and that UAY money had just gone back into the pot and those kids would be homeless. He also stated they will probably see more of these in the future, collaborations between the nonprofits, the clients UAY are serving, The Housing Fellowship doesn’t have the skill set to serve. They have daily case management services that's beyond what The Housing Fellowship does and likewise, The Housing Fellowship is much more experienced a a property manager and dealing with acquisition. They have more debt capacity with the ability to move things between properties in a way that UAY isn't capable to do. The Housing Fellowship has had a lot of success recently with master leases with the Salvation Army and their homeless vet program. They worked with DVIP and Shelter House early on in the pandemic. Overall it’s a good thing to have the local nonprofits collaborate and play to their strengths, for case managers to be doing the best case management services, property managers, likewise. Therefore, part of the logic and taking that risk on the UAY project, not knowing whether those funds would be reallocated, was to show that those master lease projects are very fruitful. Szecsei asked if there have there been any public comments. Thul replied no, but public comment will go through November 4. Szecsei asked if they expect any public comments. Thul stated they don’t usually get many comments and the bulk of the feedback typically comes from this Commission. Kubly added that the agencies that staff regularly works with are pretty comfortable coming to staff. They know they would have the opportunity to speak at the Council meeting or anytime between now and then as well. Sometimes they also get favorable public comments, so if The Housing Fellowship wanted to come and make a public comment like that at the Council meeting they could as well. Krotz asked if the other agencies generally watch things like this. Kubly is unable to know if they watch the meetings but when agencies have projects that they need funding for they typically would come to staff and talk through them. Dennis moved to recommend that City Council approve Substantial Amendment #1. Seconded by Patel. A vote was taken and the motion passed 5-1 (Vogel opposed). OVERVIEW OF NEXT STEPS FOR FY26 LEGACY AID TO AGENCIES: Staff wanted to give an overview of next steps for FY26 Legacy Aid to Agencies process. The joint application was due October 15 and staff has all of the submissions. The submissions are available online as well as printed hard copies for those that wanted it. However, with the hard copies that is only the application and there's supporting materials posted online. United Way did three training sessions and staff received some good feedback on that. Staff will supply the Commission with summary sheets of each application by November 7 but encouraged all to start reading the applications. The Commission has until January 6 to score the grant proposals, that sounds like a lot of time but time tends to fly. Staff is also going to be offering one on one sessions and will meet with members individually to help work Housing and Community Development Commission October 21, 2024 Page 5 of 6 5 through any questions. There will also be the Q&A session with the applicants so if anyone has clarifying questions for the applicants, they can submit those to staff, and staff will work with the agency to get answers. Questions for the agencies will be due to staff by November 21 so the agency has time to respond. Once scores are submitted by January 6, staff will tally those and supply averages to the Commission that will be included in the information in the packet for the January 20 HCDC meeting. At that January 20 HCDC meeting is where they will make the group funding recommendations to City Council. Patel noted January 20 is Martin Luther King Day, so will HCDC still meet that day. Thul noted that on MLK Day, City offices will be closed and they'll have to shift. The meeting was shifted to the 27th. Dennis reminded everybody that the Legacy Aid to Agencies funds generally go for operating costs for the applicants. Thul noted the funding source is part CDBG and part local funding. She acknowledged this is a challenging grant that HCDC has to work through. There's a lot nonprofits in Iowa City doing good work and its always a tough decision. Krotz asked how much money is available for agencies this round. Thul stated it’s on the website but believes it is around $754,000. Also, typically there's about 5% of the total budget that's set aside for Emerging Aid to Agencies - now called Non-Legacy Aid to Agencies. She also reminded them that the awards have a minimum of $15,000. The Legacy Aid to Agencies is limited to the applicants identified in the Consolidated Plan and in the packet staff provided is some information just for reference, like historic funding for the last 10 years, best practices, and the calendar, which will need updated due to that new January meeting date. STAFF & COMMISSION UPDATES: Dennis noted an article in the Gazette or Register Sunday about a new homeless liaison in Cedar Rapids and the work they are doing with landlords to lower rents. It was interesting because some of the things mentioned here are actually happening in Linn County, so it might be worth looking at. Szecsei started thinking about things like vacancy taxes, or things like that to encourage landlords or property managers to fill vacancies. There are a bunch of other communities, more so probably in California, that are toying with an idea of a vacancy tax and she thought would be interesting here in Iowa City and provide some incentive for landlords. That money could then go towards being able to cover deposits or things like that for higher risk tenants to address the concerns that landlords have. Vogel noted it would be a nightmare logistically in know how to prove or get any kind of real number on whether units are vacant or not. Additionally, what about complexes like The Hive or The Lodge, if one of those four- or five-bedroom suites have only two of the rooms are rented is that counted as occupied. There are a lot of minor caveats. Szecsei suggests maybe it's time to have another conversation about strategies to address vacancy rates and housing shortages and needs as a part of the landlord incentive discussion because they haven't resolved anything or moved forward with anything from that previous meeting. Vogel suggested perhaps staff could put that back on an agenda after all the funding rounds end as the next several months will be busy with Legacy Aid to Agencies funding, and then CDBG/HOME funding rounds. ADJOURNMENT: Dennis moved to adjourn, Krotz seconded the motion and a vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. Housing and Community Development Commission October 21, 2024 Page 6 of 6 6 Housing and Community Development Commission Attendance Record 2023-2024 Resigned from Commission Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Vacant Name Terms Exp. 9/21 10/19 11/16 3/21 4/18 5/16 6/13 8/19 9/16 10/21 Balde, Daouda 6/30/27 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- O/E O/E X Dennis, Maryann 6/30/25 O/E X X X X X X X X X Kivarkis, George 6/30/27 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X X O/E Krotz, Karol 6/30/27 X X X O/E O/E X X O/E X X Vogel, Kyle 6/30/26 X O/E X X X O/E O/E X X X Patel, Kiran 6/30/26 X O/E X O/E O/E X X X X X Pierce, James 6/30/26 X X X O/E X X X O/E X O/E Szecsei, Denise 6/30/25 -- -- X X X X O/E X O/E X Borgen, Horacio 6/30/25 -- -- -- O/E O/E X X X O/E O/E Date: January 6, 2025 To: Housing & Community Development Commission From: Brianna Thul, Senior Community Development Planner Erika Kubly, Neighborhood Services Coordinator Re: Requested Follow-up from the November 4, 2024 Joint Work Session As you know, the Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC) recently participated in a joint work session with City Council. The purpose of this memo is to provide the follow-up information requested by Commissioner Vogel. Request #1 Based on the proposed adjustments in City Steps 2030, what CDBG/HOME projects from the last three years would not have come to the HCDC through the competitive funding round? Staff reviewed the last three years of competitive CDBG/HOME awards and made the following observations: Fiscal Year Agency Project Type City Steps 2030 Lens 2025 NCJC Public Facilities Funding requests for public facilities will continue to come through HCDC through the competitive round. 2025 City of Iowa City (ICHA) Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) By recommending approval of City Steps 2030, the HCDC would be recommending an annual set-aside of funds for TBRA for the next five years. ICHA would not be required to reapply for funding annually through the competitive round. 2025 The Housing Fellowship Rental Acquisition Funding requests for rental acquisition will continue to come to the HCDC through the competitive round. CHDO reserve projects will not come through the competitive round. 2024 Shelter House Public Facilities Funding requests for public facilities will continue to come through HCDC through the competitive round. 2024 The Housing Fellowship Rental Construction Funding requests for new construction of housing would no longer be accepted through the competitive round. New construction projects would be directed to the City’s local funds administered through the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County. 2024 Habitat for Humanity Downpayment Assistance By recommending approval of City Steps 2030, the HCDC would be recommending an annual set-aside of funds for downpayment Agenda Item #4 January 6, 2025 Page 2 assistance for the next five years. Habitat would work directly with the City to access the set aside and would no longer need to apply through the competitive round. 2024 City of Iowa City GreenState and Hills Downpayment Assistance By recommending approval of City Steps 2030, the HCDC would be recommending an annual set-aside of funds for downpayment assistance for the next five years. The City would not be required to reapply for funding annually through the competitive round. 2024 United Action for Youth Rental Acquisition Funding requests for rental acquisition will continue to come to HCDC through the competitive round. 2024 The Housing Fellowship Rental Rehab CHDO reserve projects will not come through the competitive round. 2023 DVIP Public Facilities Funding requests for public facilities will continue to come through HCDC through the competitive round. 2023 Shelter House Public Facilities Funding requests for public facilities will continue to come through HCDC through the competitive round. 2023 Inside Out Reentry Rental Acquisition Funding requests for rental acquisition will continue to come to HCDC through the competitive round. 2023 The Housing Fellowship Rental Acquisition Funding requests for rental acquisition will continue to come to the HCDC through the competitive round. CHDO reserve projects will not come through the competitive round. Request #2 How does the years in existence requirement (7, 10, and 15 years) influence direct public services funding? When considering all selection criteria, staff reviewed the current Legacy Agencies against the proposed criteria for direct funding and did not find the years in existence to be a significant determining factor. Agencies that do not receive direct funding are eligible to apply for funding through the competitive public services round. For many agencies, there will be no changes to the application process. Agency Inception Years of Service Houses into Homes 2018 6 Inside Out Reentry 2015 9 Center for Worker Justice 2012 12 Dream City 2012 12 HTFJC 2004 20 Table to Table 1996 28 IV Habitat for Humanity 1992 32 Shelter House 1983 41 Free Lunch Program 1983 41 DVIP 1979 45 Big Brothers/Big Sisters 1976 48 January 6, 2025 Page 3 NCJC 1973 51 4 Cs 1972 52 Free Medical Clinic 1971 53 CommUnity Crisis Center 1970 54 UAY 1970 54 Aging Services/Pathways 1969 55 CFR/Prelude/MECCA 1968 56 HACAP 1965 59 Elder Services/Horizons 1960 64 Arc of SEI 1957 67 Agenda Item #5