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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHCDC July PacketIf you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this program or event, please contact Brianna Thul at brianna-thul@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5230. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Upcoming Housing & Community Development Commission Meetings Regular: August 19 / September 16 HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (HCDC) July 15, 2021 Regular Meeting – 6:30 PM Senior Center Assembly Room 28 S. Linn Street AGENDA: 1.Call to Order 2.Consideration of Meeting Minutes: June 17, 2021 3.Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda Commentators shall address the Commission for no more than 5 minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items. 4.Welcome New Members HCDC will welcome two new members, Kaleb Beining and Becci Reedus. This item provides an opportunity for new and existing Commissioners to introduce themselves. 5.Officer Nominations Per HCDC Bylaws, the Commission nominates and elects a Chair and Vice Chair each July. The Commission will nominate and vote for these two positions. 6.Discuss Locally Funded Voucher Program The Commission wishes to discuss a potential recommendation to Council to create a locally funded voucher program. Steve Rackis, Housing Administrator of the Iowa City Housing Authority will be available to answer questions. 7. Discuss American Rescue Plan Act Funds The City of Iowa City is seeking feedback on how to spend the American Rescue Plan Act funds. This item provides an opportunity for discussion. Thoughts and ideas may be submitted on behalf of the Commission through the online survey or designated email address. 8.Iowa City Council Meeting Updates Two commissioners are assigned each month to monitor Council meetings. This agenda item provides an opportunity to review assignment schedule and for brief updates on City Council activity relevant to HCDC business. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one another concerning said items. 9.Housing & Community Development Information 10. Adjournment Canceled Canceled Housing and Community Development Commission July 15, 2021 Meeting Packet Contents Agenda Item #2 •June 17, 2021 HCDC Draft Meeting Minutes Agenda Item #5 •HCDC Bylaws Agenda Item #7 •Letter from Rachel Kilburg, Assistant City Manager •U.S. Department of the Treasury Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Flyer •Guiding Principles to Inform the Process of Prioritizing Ideas for the Use of ARP Funds as Defined by Council Agenda Item #9 •June 17, 2021 Memo to Iowa City Landlords and Rental Property Managers from Kristin Watson, Human Rights Investigator MINUTES PRELIMINARY HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION JUNE 17, 2021 – 6:30 PM ELECTRONIC MEETING MEMBERS PRESENT: Peggy Aguilar, Megan Alter, Matt Drabek, Lyn Dee Hook Kealey, Nasr Mohammed, Peter Nkumu, Maria Padron, Kyle Vogel MEMBERS ABSENT: Theresa Lewis ST AFF PRESENT: Steve Rackis, Brianna Thul OTHERS PRESENT: Sara Barron, Simon Andrew RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: By a vote of 8-0 the Commission recommends approval of the Iowa City Housing Authority Annual Plan for FY21. CALL MEETING TO ORDER: Padron called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: APRIL 15, 2021: Drabek moved to approve the minutes of April 15, 2021. Vogel seconded and a vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0 (Aguilar and Kealey not present for this vote). PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TOPICS NOT ON THE AGENDA: Sara Barron (Executive Director, Affordable Housing Coalition) has been providing the Commission with updates about how the Iowa Rent and Utility Assistance rollout is going and in a previous month there was dire news about how long it was taking but today she’d like to share a much more positive update. The State has contracted with the local community action program HACAP and others throughout the State to process the applications that have been submitted since the end of March. They are starting to hear from a lot of tenants and landlords that they are receiving payment for back rent and also many payments have gone out to utility providers as well, for back payments. The reason this is so important is because number one, tenants need to have their rent paid, landlords need to receive those rents. But also the eviction moratorium is coming to an end on June 30 and when it ends people will no longer be protected from eviction if they've been unable to pay their rent because of COVID loss of income. Therefore, the Coalition and community partners are working hard to ensure that everyone who is eligible is able to apply for this assistance, they're working to sort through those records where maybe both the landlord and the tenant have applied but their applications haven't been matched up with each other, so it comes across as an incomplete application. They are also helping people to do all the different steps they need to do to get that final payment issued. Barron noted it's been so incredibly great to see people recognize that all the sudden that five months of rent they haven't been able to pay has been settled. Barron acknowledged there will be some people who are still having an eviction filed against them but they are also working really quickly to put some other things in place that can help to prevent eviction for nonpayment of rent. This will require a lot of cooperation among tenants, landlords and social services providers, but they believe they can do it because they believe, number one, it’s the right thing to do and Agenda Item #2 Housing and Community Development Commission June 17, 2021 Page 2 of 8 2 number two logic on their side because if an eviction is filed, and if a tenant is evicted, the landlord won't be able to receive that State money to pay the back rent. So, it's in everyone's best interest to participate in the program and give it time to work so that people can stay safely housed and landlords can receive the rent that they're owed. Barron will keep the Commission posted but wanted to share that good update about the progress that the State has made in getting those rents paid. Just a reminder, this is really an economic stimulus for the rental community here, it really benefits everyone from the tenant to the landlord to all the people the landlord pays, so really the whole community. It’s in everyone's best interest, whether they're personally behind in their rent or not to support this program and make sure that these dollars come through the people who need them. REVIEW AND CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL ON APPROVAL OF IOWA CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY ANNUAL PLAN FOR FY21: The Iowa City Housing Authority is required to update their annual plans under the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998. Their annual report provides details about current programs, population served, annual application for grants to support improvement, and ICHA’s strategy for addressing housing needs of current currently assisted families and the larger community. Steve Rackis (Housing Administrator, Housing Authority) spoke about the Annual Plan. He stated it's really a report, the planning document for the City of Iowa City is the City Steps. The Housing Authority participates in the City Steps and HUD requires that they are substantially equivalent. He is able to answer any questions the Commission has on the report. Vogel noted he has worked a lot of years with Rackis on getting people affordable housing and thinks one of the most telling things in the whole report is how they view affordable housing in Iowa City, which is this concept that there's not enough affordable housing. However what Vogel noted from the report is there's not enough funds to get people off the waitlist to get into the affordable housing. In his complexes alone they have 42 vacant units that are vacant either right now or vacant by August 1, that fall way below the affordable housing rent amounts and the issue right now for them is just people that have HCV aren't already living somewhere. This Commission talks a lot about how to produce more affordable housing units but right now Iowa City is sitting from a 2% vacancy rate to almost double digits. The problem is how to get more HCV vouchers into the hands of people to allow them to take these vacant units. Vogel believes there's 700 families that are on the waitlist right now for vouchers. Rackis noted it’s actually more than that because they pulled people off the waiting list for the first time in over a year. However, he acknowledged Vogel’s comments about the vacancies and admitted the City is struggling even with their public housing units, where the rent is subsidized and that low-income families are choosing not to rent the City units with the subsidized rent. The City units, the newest ones were built in 1995, are mostly one-bathroom units and people are used to and want two-bathroom units. Rackis noted supposedly within the Biden administration's budget for HUD, they are proposing additional vouchers. The City did get additional vouchers, emergency housing vouchers, but those are for chronically homeless and people fleeing domestic violence, and that was only 69 vouchers. He stated there is a promise within the Biden administration to increase the number of vouchers, the City just has 1215 vouchers. They have money to support more than that, but they cannot lease over the number of vouchers that they have. Rackis also stated that Vogel is talking about the difference of building affordable housing, which is very difficult, and the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which is really not an affordable housing program, it's a program that makes housing affordable. This solution is to help people pay for their rent, to help subsidize the rent, and not necessarily build more units. The City can house 1400-1500 families for $8 million whereas they cannot build that many units with $8 million. Vogel agreed and noted they run into the same issue with three bedrooms and one bath. Everybody wants three-bedroom, three bath or three-bedroom, two baths. He noted it is frustrating, but he is not sure where they are at in the City Steps because once again, they write these plans for these five years of City Steps and from when that report was put together. When that report was put together, they weren't in the same situation with vacancies, but that is the regulations they have to follow. Housing and Community Development Commission June 17, 2021 Page 3 of 8 3 Thul noted that typically once a year they do get feedback on the Consolidated Plan to see if anything has changed in priorities, although normally there isn’t a global pandemic right after the plan is created, but certainly there'd be some opportunity for feedback. Padron asked if they had more vouchers would there still be these vacancies because people still wouldn't want those units, is that the issue. Vogel replied if even 300 of the people on the waitlist were willing to take a two-bedroom, one bath, or a one-bedroom, one bath unit they would still be able to get people into homes. The issue is they are at a limit of how many vouchers they can give out. So then it comes back to the question is there a position for the City to have funds available to create a localized voucher program, outside of the HCV program from the federal level. Vogel is not sure how it would work, to do vouchers outside the HUD program, but if the City had a pool of money to do subsidized housing, could they. This Commission hears about the fee in lieu of stuff and perhaps the Housing Committee will discuss at some point. Thul noted the conversation may be veering to where if they want to talk more about this, they should put it on an agenda to be fully disclose the conversation to the public. They can definitely continue the discussion about this specific report today and if the Commission wants make a recommendation to City Council or propose some modifications to the report. Padron asked why they are voting on a recommendation to the City Council if this is just a report, is it a HUD requirement. Rackis replied yes, it is covered in the Housing Commission bylaws that any changes to the administrative plan, or admissions and continued occupancy plan for public housing, any policy decisions have to go through HCDC. This is not really policy, but it's a report on how policy was implemented. Therefore, as part of the bylaws, it has to come to the Commission first and then to Council second. Padron asked could the Commission recommend this report to the City but also with a recommendation that they look into creating a local program with local money to create more vouchers. Would that be under the Public Housing Authority strategies for addressing the housing needs of currently assisted families in the larger community. Vogel replied they didn’t know if this would be something that would fall under the Public Housing Authority because this would not be something that would currently exist under the under the Housing Authority. Rackis confirmed all of their funding is federal at this point. Vogel asked if the City did implement something like that though, could the ICHA, as the as our public housing authority also administer this program. Rackis thinks City Council would want to keep it in the Housing Authority as they are the staff that's trained but right now, the number of vouchers that they have is pushing the upper limits of the number of households each case manager has. Currently each case manager has about 300 households, so more vouchers would require potentially more staff, which adds more cost. Vogel is asking if this something that could be included in that report as a potential strategy for addressing the housing needs. Rackis replied that is up to the Commission. Vogel acknowledged everything they do is just a recommendation to the Council, but if they can include that in the report as a recommended strategy for addressing housing needs, that the City looks at a local source program to increase the availability of vouchers for people on the waitlist, would that be appropriate. Drabek said maybe they can do something like that, but it might make more sense to maybe work this up a bit more, and perhaps add it as an agenda item to a future meeting. If they want to make that kind of Housing and Community Development Commission June 17, 2021 Page 4 of 8 4 recommendation it seems to be the sort of thing that they wouldn't want to just tack on to a report at the last minute. Thul agreed it's good to get different sides of an issue from others outside the room, so it would be better to discuss it in the future and fully disclose it on the agenda so anyone who has opinions on it could come and talk about it. A vote was taken and the motion to recommend approval of the Iowa City Housing Authority Annual Plan for FY21 was passed 8-0. Thul will add an agenda item to discuss options and recommendations in more depth at another meeting. PROJECT MONITORING: HCDC invites CDBG and Home recipients to provide updates on project progress and learn about the agency's role serving the community. Simon Andrew (Executive Director, The Housing Fellowship) will provide an update on their projects with highlights from FY19, FY20 and FY21 and will then give some commentary about their pandemic response. Despite the pandemic with projects that were already in the pipeline, they grew their unit count by 26% last year, which was of course not easy to do on the environment they were doing it. But they made it through the year, increasing the amount of families that they can provide housing for, and in some respects stabilizing themselves financially. Andrew next showed the list of their Board of Trustees to highlight as part of their CHODO (Community Housing Development Organization) status and that they have a broad range of folks represented on their Board. They have tenants on the Board, representatives from low-income households, organizations that serve low-income families, attorneys, commercial lenders, and developers and realtors as well. Having all that broad range provides invaluable resources to make sure that they're able to provide the services that they need. Andrew next introduced their team pointing out Tashundra Gathright, the compliance specialist, noting she's the best around at what she does as they are tasked with making sure that they're compliant with all the rules. Looking at the organizational structure, they're technically six different organizations and have 217 units total, they just sold one last week. In the core nonprofit entity, The Housing Fellowship, there are 14 properties which have been acquired or constructed with a number of funding sources. The other five organizations are all low-income housing tax credit projects and when they undertake those projects they have to have a private partner that puts in capital up front, and then they acquire or build these units and that partner recoups their investment through federal tax. Andrew next reviewed their projects, in the FY19 rental rehab, was there were four properties for projects that were allocated, funding for three of those were completed in 2019. The fourth was planned to be completed in 2020 but many of their construction projects, especially in occupied units, were delayed in 2020 due to the pandemic. So that property they expect will be done in 2021 as there are much needed updates to that unit, it’s a tenant that's been with them for some time with children in the home. For the FY20 rental rehab project, initially there were four properties in these allocated funds. The Cares Act, as part of the federal government's pandemic response last year, changed the amount of dollars coming through this project that could be used for operations so two of the homes that they planned to remodel with these dollars were delayed and they were able to use those dollars to backfill some of their lost rent from the pandemic and keep those families in their homes. The first one to be bid out is 427 1st Avenue, and it needs a ton of work, it’s just around the corner from the old Hoover school, just down the block from City High. It’s a great location and a great home but it's in pretty dilapidated condition. Again, that has gone out to bid, they have received bids and plan to accept one and expect that to get done in this summer. The other house in that fiscal year is Esther Court. That one has not been bid out yet, the repairs necessary at the First Avenue one was such that they wanted to make sure that they had that one bid out first because they expected that that one was going to take the lion's share of the funding. Both of these homes have dollars from their nonprofit entity and then they are putting skin in the game for these. Housing and Community Development Commission June 17, 2021 Page 5 of 8 5 Additionally, there was money allocated from the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County too, so that is one way that both homes can get done well and affordable is compiling enough funding sources. The next rehab was delayed a little bit, on this one they were happy to be able to help out another nonprofit organization. This is a duplex on Taylor Drive and the repairs to these units are not as extensive as some others, besides the HVAC and water heater it's largely cosmetic repairs. However, after they obligated funds for this project, the Fairweather Lodge experienced a fire, that's a Shelter House property that had six tenants and was a total loss, so they allowed Shelter House to use this property for those six tenants. The Shelter House now has a year to figure out whether they're rebuilding their previous property or acquiring a different property for these clients, so as soon as they could undertake this project is March 2022. However, they felt it was really important help out another local nonprofit. Andrew next discussed their pandemic response and added they were grateful for the operational dollars that they got through their CHODO status. He did mention that early on in the pandemic they donated four of their basic units to helped out the Domestic Violence Intervention Program who were trying to get folks out of their group shelter in order to alleviate some risk for Coronavirus spread. He also wanted to mention that they're currently working through a backlog of maintenance requests because over the course of the last year they really have only been trying to go in occupied units when it was absolutely necessary. So, for more minor repairs they do have a backlog of maintenance and again, that's where the operational support really shows up in their units. They are also working closely with their tenants to apply for the rental and utility assistance program that Sara Barron discussed and that has essentially become the office manager’s full-time job. From that program they have had a number of tenants who have had their past due balance paid but even after those approved requests, they still have over $170,000 in past due rent and so by reallocating those project dollars to keep their operations going they were able to float those tenants who are currently unable to pay has been critical. The delay in these rent assistance dollars, the impact it has on the families cannot be understated, it has been really terrifying for a lot of the families. He wanted to emphasize that just making sure families are able to stay current on their rent is not all this program is doing, it also keeps operations going that allows them to pay contractors that they need to work on homes and allows them to pay back the banks as they have close to $6 million in debt on these homes and they need to keep current on those payments. They did have to go to quarterly payments on a couple of insurance policies rather than paying a lump sum for an annual payment just on based on cash flow. Moving on to Del Ray Ridge, Andrew explained this is one of their LITEC projects and their biggest project to date as an organization, it is a 33 unit building on Dubuque Street. With some scrambling they were able to get it 100% leased out the week of the Christmas holiday last year because had they not met that deadline that would have put some tax credits at risk that the nonprofit would have had to pay back to the investing partner. Andrew noted it's a mixed income building, there are units everywhere from roughly $300 up to closer to $1200. For those units that equates to 30% AMI up to four market rate units in that building. As an organization they take very seriously, by and large, they are a scattered site housing provider and like that their units are spread all over Johnson County and that they integrate very well into neighborhoods. This is a single apartment building but they really do think that the economic integration is an important piece for the tenants and the community school district as a whole. This building also has five accessible units with accessible showers, bathrooms, kitchens, which is something that they also see that the market very much needs. Hills Bank is their partner on this project, they provided $4.2 million upfront to get this building going, to retire the construction loan debt, and over the course of the next 10 years they will see federal tax credits that recoup their investment. The City of Iowa City was also instrumental in getting this project moving forward, as well as the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County, as they provided the loan with which they bought the land initially. Lastly, Andrew wanted to share it is not uncommon for them to get notes from their tenants, he wanted to highlight this one note in particular as it came in a very stressful time, just as they were wrapping up Del Ray Ridge and had a fear that they were going to owe a half a million dollars to refund tax credits, so it was really nice to be to be thanked for their hard work. This particular tenant was bought out of her previous lease, and their staff help her move and were able to get her in a very cold week when she was afraid that she wasn't going to have anywhere else to go. Andrew stated they manage these properties, Housing and Community Development Commission June 17, 2021 Page 6 of 8 6 but without partners such as the City without federal dollars, Trust Fund and all their local partners, they wouldn't be able to make this happen. Alter thanked Andrew for the data driven work that he presented but also for humanizing and really closing the presentation with the fact that this is all about people and their dignity. It is important to include because it's the weight of all this work is so enormous but then it becomes so easy to make it mission driven, when you see who you're helping. Andrew agreed and noted it is really easy in his role to get bogged down. Nkumu thanked Andrew for his nice presentation and had a question about the report of over $170,000 in grants and wondered how many tenants apply for IFA program so they can recoup those losses. Andrew replied currently they have roughly 70 applications to the program and eight have been paid out, which mostly started last week, but as Sara Barron stated it's been moving more quickly than it did in the past and HACAP staff have been very good to work with as it's helpful to have somebody locally that they're familiar with who's actually reviewing the cases. Part of the reason why he thinks they're moving a little bit quicker now is communication has improved, that database that they're using has improved a little bit, it's still a heck of an application and a lot to ask folks for. Again, they have about 70 applications and many more that they plan to submit. They started with the highest past due balances, back before this program was even active, reaching out to tenants in January and February when they knew that this program was coming. There were many initial frustrations when the program was rolled out, but again things are going smoother now. Mohammad thanked Andrew for providing such a nice and informative presentation. He stated he is familiar with Section IIX and asked if this project works the same way as Section IIX or has some differences in how to apply. Andrew stated they are a nonprofit entity but can be thought of as a typical landlord, as a property owner manager, so they own and manage units that they've cobbled together over the course of 30 years with some public dollars and private dollars, buying some homes or constructing some homes, but they're the landlord. Section IIX is a payment that voucher holders can use to pay their rent with any landlord willing to accept so they do have tenants that have vouchers, actually a good chunk of their tenants do have vouchers, but they are not a government program, they’re a private nonprofit Mohammad asked how people apply for this housing. Andrew explained similar to a typical landlord they have a brief application stating who previous landlords were and they do a check back three years on previous landlord references. They also have to know what the tenant’s household income is to make sure that they're qualified to live in the units. Once they get through the landlord reference checks, in most cases they are also required to do criminal background checks and once they get through that process, they start looking at whatever vacant units they have that might meet that household’s needs. They have everything from one-bedroom units up to five-bedroom houses. The lion's share of their homes are two and three bedroom, either single family homes, duplexes, or townhomes. Padron thanked Andrew for his presentation. AFFORDABLE HOUSING STEERING COMMITTEE UPDATE FROM HCDC REPRESENTATIVE: Nkumu suggested submitting a written update to the Commission, and then possibly picking it up next time since he was having trouble with his audio. IOWA CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS UPDATES: Two Commissioners are assigned each month to monitor Council meetings and this agenda item provides an opportunity for brief updates on City Council activity relevant to the HCDC business. Commissioners will not engage in discussion with one another concerning said items. Housing and Community Development Commission June 17, 2021 Page 7 of 8 7 Thul noted they need to assign Commissioners to upcoming meetings if they still feel the Council updates are useful. Drabek stated he tends to find the updates useful and finds them most useful when they are narrowly focused on the one or two agenda items that are about housing and least useful when they are a summary of a lot of things that happened at the at the meeting. Alter would agree with that and thinks that also it's entirely legit that if the meeting did not focus on things that were relevant for the Commission, it can be reported it was an interesting meeting but nothing relevant for this Commission and move on. It is useful to keep up with things that have made it to Council and what's on the radar. Kealey agreed but was one of those guilty ones that wasn't really sure what her role was so probably shared extra things. She does find value when people are reporting on the Council meetings. Padron stated then the need to find people for maybe the next three months. Drabek will do July, Alter can do August and Mohammed will do September. HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION: A special thank you to our outgoing commission members Maria Padron and Peggy Aguilar for their service to the community. Padron wanted to thank everyone and noted it has been great being in this commission. She will be joining the Planning and Zoning Commission and her main interest is still going to be affordable housing as she is very concerned about that topic. She believes combining code and planning and zoning and what this Commission recommends to the Council, together could do great work. Aguilar also thanked the members and noted being on the Commission has been so educational. Thul also wanted to thank both Padron and Aguilar, this Commission is a big commitment, not only with meetings but there's a lot of reading and extra time invested. At the next meeting will be welcoming two new commissioners, Becci Reedus and Kaleb Beining and they will need to do officer nominations. Regarding announcements, Erica Kubly is on maternity leave. The Little Creations Academy project is under an agreement now and that’s moving forward. The City hired a new rehab specialist, Doug Black and he will be doing lot of work in the South District program. HUD sent a notice that they retracted that policy change that HCDC sent a letter about months back regarding Equal Access Rule. And last but not least, Thul shared some of the Juneteenth events going on. More information located in the agenda packets. ADJOURNMENT: Alter moved to adjourn. Vogel seconded the motion and a vote was taken and the motion passed 8-0. Housing and Community Development Commission June 17, 2021 Page 8 of 8 8 Housing and Community Development Commission Attendance Record 2020-2021 •Resigned from Commission Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Vacant Name Terms Exp. 7/16 8/20 9/17 10/15 11/19 1/21 2/18 3/11 4/15 6/17 Aguilar, Peggy 6/30/22 O/E X X O/E O/E X X X O/E Alter, Megan 6/30/21 X X O/E X X X X X X Drabek, Matt 6/30/22 X X X O/E X X X X X Kealey, Lyn Dee Hook 6/30/22 X X X O/E X O/E X X X Lewis, Thersea 6/30/23 X X X X X X X X X Mohammed, Nsar 6/30/23 X X O/E X X X X X O/E Nkumu, Peter 6/30/22 O/E X O/E X X X X X O/E Padron, Maria 6/30/21 X X O/E X O/E X X X X Vogel, Kyle 6/30/23 X X X O/E X O/E X X X X X X X O/E X X X X Agenda Item #5 Agenda Item #7 The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide a substantial infusion of resources to help turn the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery. The American Rescue Plan will deliver $350 billion for state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs. Eligible Jurisdictions & Allocations Direct Recipients •States and District of Columbia ($195.3 billion) •Counties ($65.1 billion) •Metropolitan cities ($45.6 billion) •Tribal governments ($20.0 billion) •Territories ($4.5 billion) Indirect Recipients •Non-entitlement units ($19.5 billion) Funding Objectives •Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control •Replace lost public sector revenue to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs •Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses •Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the inequal impact of the pandemic Address Negative Economic Impacts Respond to economic harms to workers, families, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector Premium Pay for Essential Workers Offer additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors Replace Public Sector Revenue Loss Use funds to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic Support Public Health Response Fund COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff Broadband Infrastructure Make necessary investments to provide unserved or underserved locations with new or expanded broadband access Water and Sewer Infrastructure Make necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water and invest in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure Agenda Item #7 Example Uses of Funds Guiding Principles for Use of ARPA funds in Iowa City Leverage partnerships and outside funding; avoid duplication with other relief programs Restore financial stability to support future governmental operations Retain flexibility to address evolving emergent community needs Seek opportunities to make lasting change in physical and social infrastructure Ensure funding decisions help mitigate racial inequalities Pursue actions that contribute toward the City’s climate action goals Limit operational investments without identified sustainable funding sources Demonstrate compliance and transparency through regular public reporting Agenda Item #7 Date: June 17, 2021 To: Iowa City Landlords and Rental Property Managers From: Kristin Watson, Human Rights Investigator Re: Pretext as an Issue in Eviction As many of us return to normalcy, others are struggling with the ripple effects of the pandemic. The Pew Research Center recently found1 that roughly 9.6 million U.S. workers lost their jobs during the first three quarters of 2020, with young adults and women suffering more losses than older workers and men. Many of these workers have not been able to fully pay their rent. The CDC’s moratorium on eviction for non-payment expires June 30th, at which point thousands of renters in Iowa will remain delinquent in rent payments. Before evicting a tenant for non-payment, consider possible discriminatory implications. Iowa Legal Aid has found eviction disproportionately affects women, people with disabilities, and people of color. For example, despite constituting only 17% of Johnson County's population,2 a stunning 67% of Legal Aid's current eviction clients in Johnson County are people of color. Statewide, 71% of Legal Aid's eviction intakes between 2015 and 2020 involved women as the primary clients.3 All of Legal Aid's clients are in precarious financial positions—one cannot earn more than 125% of the federal poverty level to be eligible for Legal Aid's assistance.4 Therefore, landlords who rush to evict may face discrimination complaints alleging pretext. The legal meaning of pretext is the same as the common one: substituting an excuse for a true motivation. While non-payment of rent may be the stated reason for an eviction, a tenant may still file a discrimination complaint if they5 suspect the true reason for the eviction is their race, sex, national origin, disability status, public assistance source of income, or other protected class. One area of particular concern is “public assistance source of income“ (PASI). On April 30, 2021, Governor Reymolds signed a new law6 prohibiting cities from requiring landlords to accept qualified tenants with housing choice vouchers (HCVs), commonly known as “Section 8.“ Cities which already have ordinances protecting renters with HCVs, including Iowa City, may continue to enforce those ordinances until January 1, 2023. In addition, “public assistance source of income“ is much broader than HCVs; it includes both income and “support“ derived from any tax-supported Federal, State, or 1https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/15/fewer-jobs-have-been-lost-in-the-eu-than-in-the-u-s-during-the- covid-19-downturn/ 2 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/johnsoncountyiowa/PST045219 3 The Office of Equity and Human Rights thanks Ericka Petersen, Assistant Litigation Director, for sharing Iowa Legal Aid’s internal research. 4 https://www.iowalegalaid.org/resource/frequently-asked-questions-about-iowa-legal-aid 5 It is the policy of Equity and Human Rights to use “they, them, their” as singular, gender-neutral pronouns. 6 https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/30/gov-kim-reynolds-signs-bill-letting-landlords- reject-section-8-housing-hud-tenants/4748580001/ Agenda Item #9 June 17, 2021 Page 2 local funds.7 This includes veteran's benefits, Social Security, supplemental security income, food assistance, and many other types of relief. PASI also includes “rent subsidy programs.“ COVID-related rent subsidy programs have gotten a slow start in Iowa, but are now beginnning to generate funds. These programs are covered under the Iowa City PASI ordinance. Many COVID-related relief programs require landlord participation to complete paperwork. Refusal to complete the landlord's portion of paperwork necessary to receive COVID relief funds could lead to a complaint of discrimination. This memorandum is meant to provide general guidance regarding this subject. If you have questions regarding topics addressed in this memorandum or your rights and responsibilities in general, please call the office at 319-356-5015 or 319-356-5022. For specific legal questions, please consult your attorney. The Office of Equity and Human Rights provides educational memos to landlords on areas of discrimination to assist in providing good outcomes for both landlords and tenants. Please send fair housing topics you would like to receive guidance on to humanrights@iowa-city.org. 7 https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/iowacityia/latest/iowacity_ia/0-0-0-543