HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 03/03/2005CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
281 N. College Ave.
Fort Collins, Colorado
March 3, 2005
Kay Rios, Chair
Denise Rogers, Vice Chair
Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753
Marty Tharp, City Council Liaison, 970-484-5711
Board Members Present: Kay Rios, Jon Fairchild, Michelle Jacobs, Jane Phelan,
Denise Rogers, Joe Rowan, Peter Tippett, Sunshine Workman.
Advance Planning Staff Present: Ken Waido, Maurice Head, Julie Smith.
Council Members Present: None
Guests: Sandra Gibson, Senior Coalition.
Kay Rios called the meeting to order with a quorum present at 4 p.m., welcoming
new member Michelle Jacobs.
There were no comments from the public.
New Business
Minutes
Joe Rowan moved to accept the February 3 minutes as submitted; Sunshine
Workman seconded, motion carried unanimously.
Grocery Sales Tax Repeal
Kay Rios asked the Board to discuss the proposed repeal of the City sales tax on
groceries and take an official position on the issue to appear as Initiative 1 on the
April 5 ballot, specifically against it. However, the City Attorney has advised that
unless the Board took positions on all such issues, public discussion of such a
position would not be permitted. City Council has already announced its opposition.
Michelle Jacobs moved that the Affordable Housing Board oppose repeal of
the grocery sales tax on the April 5, 2005, ballot. Peter Tippett and Jane
Phelan both seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Joe Rowan moved that the Affordable Housing Board send a letter of
congratulations to City Council for taking a stance in opposition to
Initiative 1 on the April 5, 2005, ballot. Jon Fairchild seconded and offered
a friendly amendment that the letter be to thank Council for taking an
appropriate stand on the issue rather than expressing congratulations.
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March 3, 2005 Minutes
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Michelle Jacobs seconded the friendly amendment, Mr. Rowan accepted the
amendment, and the amended motion passed unanimously.
Kay Rios will draft the letter, which will emphasize the negative effects
continued budget cuts required by such a repeal would have on affordable
housing programs in Fort Collins, as well as on neighborhood resources
and code enforcement. She will email the draft of the letter to all Board
members for comments and input, sending a copy to Ken Waido for
information only.
Homebuyer Assistance Program
Ken Waido and Julie Smith explained the time and effort required to provide the
additional information requested by the Board for reports on this program. The
main obstacle is that the database used to provide required reports to the
Department of Housing and Urban Development is not integrated with a
spreadsheet program to provide the data in a format similar to the one requested,
and the data would have to be transferred manually. Staff estimated the time
required would be about a day -and -a -half for one person.
Michelle Jacobs asked what the Board intended to use the additional information
for. Joe Rowan explained that he thought having the dollar amounts of loans made
and repaid within a 12-month period would help Board members to make better
decisions about allocating funds through the Competitive Process, and to evaluate
the efficiency of the program in terms of recycling funds. He was also concerned
that with the mismatch between fiscal and calendar year reporting, it is difficult for
anyone outside the City accounting office to know how much was actually available
to the program. He said it didn't matter if the data were presented in calendar year
or fiscal year format, as long as all the data were on the same cycle.
After discussion, it was decided that staff would begin including the
information requested — dollar amounts allocated into the program, dollar
amounts disbursed from the program, number and amount of loans made
from the program and number and amount of loans paid back into the
program on a fiscal year basis — with the information packets for the Fall
Cycle of the Competitive Process.
Rental Registration
Ken Waido reported that after a 3-3 tie in City Council, there is little likelihood of
this issue being dealt with before the April 5 election, although Council has
scheduled a study session on it. He also discussed some of the ideas being
considered by staff, and the recently completed Economic and Market Study that
looked at the potential effects of strict enforcement of the three -unrelated
ordinance. Jon Fairchild noted that the three -unrelated ordinance is arbitrary, and if
it were enforced, it would cause major changes to the rental market in town. But
how can you enforce anything without registration? Joe Rowan asked, "How can
you enforce registration?" He also pointed out that if landlords were forced to sell
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March 3, 2005 Minutes
Page 3 of 4
homes they are now renting, prices would be depressed and become more
affordable in some parts of town, while raising prices in others. Dense Rogers felt it
would be more important to address problem behavior, perhaps by beefing up the
public nuisance ordinances. Peter Tippett was concerned the City is moving toward
creating another ordinance that will be equally unenforceable. Jane Phelan observed
that in her neighborhood the biggest nuisance issues are traffic and parking. Mr.
Waido said intensity and density are major issues to be resolved, and staff
recommendations on the issue are still evolving.
Kay Rios asked Jon Fairchild and the Policy Subcommittee to research the
implications of staff recommendations on affordable housing availability
and present results at the next regular meeting, April 7, after the City
Council's study session and the election.
Distribution of Competitive Process Affordable Housing Proposals
Ken Waido distributed the packets, and the Board set March 24 at 4 p.m. as a
special meeting to review and rank the requests. He reviewed the requirements of
conflict of interest and ex parte communication with the applicants, and directed
Board members to funnel all questions through him. He said $1.2 million in CDBG
funds and $500,000 in HOME funds were available this cycle; there are seven
requests for funding. He explained the various set asides and restrictions on the
various funds, adding that there were twice as many requests for funding for social
services projects - which are not reviewed by the Affordable Housing Board -- as
funds available. Mr. Waido reminded Board members that they were to rank the
requests on relative merits and not make actual dollar amount recommendations.
Old Business
City Budget/Affordable Housing Fund
Ken Waido reported that City Council would like Boards and Commissions involved
in developing the next budget, but how that would be structured or executed has
not been decided. He may have more information at the April meeting.
Sales and Use Tax Rebate Program
This ordinance sunset in 2001 and has not been reauthorized. When it was in
effect, according to Ken Waido, there was a formula based on square footage and
valuation that produced an average rebate for affordable units of about $681/unit.
Update/Reports on Subcommittee Efforts
None.
Liaison Reports
None.
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March 3, 2005 Minutes
Page 4 of 4
Other Busin
Coen Board Discussion
Ken Waido announced the Board of Realtors' Second Affordable Housing Summit on
Thursday, June 2. He will investigate rescheduling the Affordable Housing Board
meeting on that day so members may attend.
Michelle Jacobs shared an item from the Greeley City Council agenda that urged
U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard's continued support for the Community Development Block
Grant program, and asked if the Board could recommend a similar action in Fort
Collins. Mr. Waido said the issue was already in process with the Legislative staff,
but the Board could make a recommendation through the legislative subcommittee.
Members may also write letters to Senators Allard and Salazar as private
individuals, he added. Staff will bring an update on this issue to the April meeting.
Sunshine Workman announced that she is in the process of applying to graduate
programs around the country and will know by mid -March if she will have to resign
her seat on the Board.
Subcommittee Membership and Activity
This item will remain on the agenda for discussion in April.
Meeting adjourned 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Kate Jeracki
March 30, 2005