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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 - Housing Catalyst - Annual ReportFort Collins Housing Authority YEAR IN REVIEW 2005 Just as a house is built upon a solid foundation, the Fort Collins Housing Authority is built upon its mission: To promote adequate and affordable housing, economic opportunity and a safe living environment free from discrimination. FCHA currently assists approximately 1,500 families (3,750 individuals) throughout Latimer County through various programs. These programs include federally subsidized Low Income Public Housing, Section 8 Rental Assistance, Tenant -based Rental Assistance and management of the Wellington Housing Authority. Management also includes the Fort Collins Housing Corporation's non -subsidized affordable housing properties, and the historic Northern Hotel low income housing tax credit development. FORT COLLINS PUBLIC HOUSING Fort Collins Housing Authority Public Housing Program consists of 154 units owned by the Authority. Operating subsidy allows the program to serve families earning virtually no income, but regulations authorize serving families earning up to 80% of area median income. Attachment A provides 2005 demographics. For 2005, Fort Collins Public Housing had an average vacancy rate of 1.7%. This program had an annual turnover rate of 32%; meaning 49 of the 154 units had a family move -out during the year. The average unit turn -around time for Public Housing in 2005 was 18 days, which is an "A" rating by HUD's Public Housing Assessment System scoring methodology. This is an improvement from the 2004 rating of 26 days or "C", and an 18 day reduction from the 2003 average of 36 days or "D" rating. This number includes both maintenance and leasing time. The federal regulations for waiting list selection are quite stringent and create a challenge. There are currently 306 applicants on the Fort Collins Public Housing waiting list. At this time, the anticipated length of wait can be over 24 months depending on bedroom size needed. WELLINGTON PUBLIC HOUSING The Fort Collins Housing Authority manages the Wellington Housing Authority through an intergovernmental agreement. There is a Board of Commissioners which meets on a monthly basis to review activities, set policy, and prepare and authorize budgets and capital improvement plans. The Wellington Housing Authority consists of 42 public housing units. The Wellington Public Housing vacancy rate for 2005 was 1.6% which is similar to last year's 2% rate. The 2005 average unit turn -around time of 11 days was an improvement from 25 days in 2004 and 35 days in 2003. This is an "A" rating under HUD's Public Housing Assessment System. As of December 2005, there were 139 applicants on the Wellington Public Housing waiting list. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM The Fort Collins Housing Authority administers approximately 812 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), also known as Section 8, for Fort Collins and Larimer County. The Larimer County allocation of 100 of these vouchers is administered through an intergovernmental agreement, 65 of which are targeted specifically to people with disabilities. Attachment A provides 2005 program demographics. The Fort Collins'Housing Authority administered $5,712,482 in Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) to local landlords on behalf of participating families in 2005. FCHA values local landlords a great deal and continues to work on ways to improve their satisfaction with the program. HAP checks are sent in a timely manner, a landlord brochure and program information is readily available, and FCHA is an active member of the Fort Collins Apartment Owners Association where staff interacts with local landlords on a regular basis. Each year, FCHA staff set up a booth at the Association's annual trade show at which over 200 local landlords and property owners attended. HUD grades this program through its Section 8 Management Assessment Program or SEMAP. We anticipate an A rating again for 2005 and slightly over 100% of our HUD allocation was utilized. In 2005 we received an overall 4% cut from HUD for this program. In our effort to effectively manage the budget and maximize assistance for our families, we went $15,000 (.2%) over budget. This amount was easily covered by excess administrative fee money we receive from HUD to administer the program. As of December 2005, there were 315 applicants for the HCV program. This waiting list was closed on November 1, 2004. The anticipated wait is now four years or more from the date of application. A separate waiting list is administered for people interested in the project -based voucher program. Twenty percent of the vouchers are "project -based" or assigned to specific rental units. There are currently 287 applicants on that list with a wait of approximately seven months average depending on bedroom size. All units leased under the Housing Choice Voucher Program must pass a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection each year in order to receive subsidy. FCHA has one full time inspector on staff. This inspector is well trained in the inspection protocol and FCHA utilizes a hand-held computer which "syncs" to our housing management software to do these inspections. Staff works toward using the most current technology whenever feasible. 2 FIRST STEP PROGRAM In early fall 2004 a tenant -based rental assistance pilot program called First Step began. It is financed by a partnership between the Colorado Division of Housing, the City of Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Housing Authority and the Housing Authority of the City of Loveland. It has provided 38 families with a transitional housing subsidy for up to two years. Tied to the subsidy is a case management component. Each family has agreed to work toward economic self-sufficiency goals through the help of a case manager who they see at least monthly. A few notable comments can be made about the program to date. Single parents (23) comprise the largest group being served by the program. Almost a quarter of the families served have a head of household who is disabled. About half of the "non -disabled" families are working. The remainder are on public assistance, school loans, or receiving child support payments. Twenty-seven children are being housed by the program and several of the families have three or more children. The numbers show a movement by participants toward a return to education since involvement in the program. They have also been able to secure student loans for living expenses beyond their tuition grants. The primary case management goals presented above show a familiar picture of primary needs among participants. Vocational assessment; job search and retention; training and education; financial planning and budgeting; and mental and physical health needs are the most common areas of focus. Great news! The Colorado Division of Housing has been extremely pleased with the success of our program and is considering renewing our funding! In addition, the Division of Housing asked to extend the contract and have FCHA administer pieces of the financing of this pilot program on behalf of the housing authorities of Longmont and Boulder. SINGLE ROOM OCCUPANCY: SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR HOMELESS On behalf of the Fort Collins Housing Corporation, the Fort Collins Housing Authority operates three sites with 40 total single rooms of permanent supportive housing for individuals who are homeless upon admission. Two of these projects known as The Homecoming (Myrtle House and First Street) receive direct HUD rental subsidy. The third project, Linden House, receives no operating or rental subsidy at this time. Latimer Center for Mental Health provides case management for the residents at all three sites. In late 2005 the Board of Commissioners approved a proposal to "project -base" 13 Latimer County Housing Choice Vouchers to Linden House. This will happen through attrition of the tenant -based program and could take a year to happen. The deep federal subsidy will allow the project to support itself. A new lease is being negotiated with the owners of the building for an additional 10 year lease. This is a highly unstable population. There were 23 "move -outs" in 2005 for a turnover rate of 55%. As of December 2005, there were 23 applicants on this waiting list with an expected wait of approximately three months. Still to come! Larimer County Health and Human Services is starting a pilot program in 2006 and has agreed to place one case manager at the SROs full-time! In addition, we have been working with the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Partnership and through that effort we may also see a new "Wraparound Services" pilot program reach many of our residents. This pilot program is being funded by Poudre Valley Hospital/Mountain Crest. VILLAGES AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROGRAM (FORT COLLINS HOUSING CORPORATION) The Fort Collins Housing Authority is the management agent for the Fort Collins Housing Corporation "Villages" affordable housing 1 program. The Corporation owns 380 units of housing scattered Villages throughout Fort Collins. This portfolio consists of many types of housing, from single family detached to the 95-unit Village on Plum apartment complex. The vacancy rate for this program as of December 2005 was 10%, which included the Village on Plum vacancy rate was 25%. Keeping these units fully occupied has been a challenge for several years. In 2005, a total of 223 units turned over for an annual turnover rate of 59%. Average household income for the Affordable Housing Program by family size is as follows: Family Size 1 2 4 Total Average Average Annual Income $11, 503 $14,606 $15,158 $15,767 $13,548 Outreach and marketing has continued to evolve. A formal , I The outreach plan was created with the help of an outside firm. The Fort Collins Housing Authority donated money for this outreach la 9 e effort, which has included professional brochures, signage, City bus panel advertising, and new website design and many other types of outreach. The new image is starting to become recognized and we 01/1 pft'i)``vi Street are seeing results from these efforts! 2005 Partnership Success! In 2005, the Fort Collins Housing Corporation Board of Directors agreed to donate two apartments to Crossroads Safehouse for a transitional housing pilot program. The fruits of this labor were seen when Crossroads successfully received a federal grant for transitional housing that will pay the rental subsidy for six units for a two year program! 0 NORTHERN HOTEL The Fort Collins Housing Authority is the contracted management agent for the Northern Hotel Limited Partnership. As management agent, the Authority provides all leasing functions, which include eligibility and compliance work for all of the grant and funding sources. Documentation and reporting is required by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program/Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, the Colorado Division Housing HOME program, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, the Housing Choice Voucher Program, and the owner group's own annual audit. The Authority "project -based" 47 Housing Choice Vouchers to the Northern Hotel in 2001 due to severe vacancy problems. Since that time, the program has been full and is serving people earning well below 30% of area median income. Of the 47 total households in the Northern Hotel, the average annual income is $8,444. The average tenant rent is $206. As of December 2005, there were 26 applicants for this program with an approximate waiting time of three months. STI Maintenance management of the Northern Hotel remains challenging. The Fort Collins Housing Authority Facilities and Maintenance Manager spends a great deal of time working on systems that also affect the commercial space of the site. Any work provided above and beyond the scope of the management agreement is billed at a separate "owner's representative" rate to cover this expense. FACILITIES AND MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT The Fort Collins Housing Authority Maintenance Department major accomplishments and projects for 2005 include: Use of the work -order system and time -standards to account for time at each project Assisting Neighbor to Neighbor in capital bidding and purchasing ii Training the City's Advance Planning and non -profits in HUD Davis Bacon regulations ili-4 Recycling program for appliances and cabinets from rehabilitation projects ij-� Use of Energy Star -rated equipment and building components iii Standardization of energy conservation lighting and water controls, HVAC iA Community Make a Difference Day projects with 100 local Intel volunteers i Staff training and use of Microsoft Project software Work Orders Completed 2005: • Staff completed 373 emergency service calls within 24 hours • Staff completed 2602 routine resident -generated service calls with an average completion time of 5 days • Staff completed 295 vacancy turn-arounds. • Total service calls completed in 2005 including our vacant unit work orders is 3351. General contracting is ongoing for several substantial rehabilitation grants: • 300 First Street Rehabilitation, Fall 2004 CDBG Grant $130,000, 90% completed. • Village on Plum, Fall 2004 CDBG Grant $342,000, completed. • Village on Plum DOH Grant $520,000, 50% completed. • Village on Plum, Spring 2005 CDBG Grant $272,000, 5% completed. • 615 Cowan CDBG Grant $110,358, 5% completed. • 100-106 S, Bryan, Spring 2005 CDBG Grant $138,850, 40% completed. • 400 Impala Circle, Fort Collins Housing Corporation Rehabilitation $60,340 70% completed. RESIDENT SERVICES The Resident Services department consists of four specific programs: Public Housing Family Self Sufficiency — After a one-year gap in HUD funding, we successfully received a grant for a coordinator, who was hired in October. There are currently 23 families enrolled with a goal of 50. We were recently notified that we were awarded another year of funding and that we were one of just two housing authorities in the six -state region to receive this award! Housing Choice Voucher Family Self Sufficiency — This program currently serves 35 families. We successfully received an additional year of HUD funding for the coordinator position. Six families completed their goals and graduated from the program in 2005. They each received their escrow balances upon graduation. Marianne $1,301 Julie $7,488 Karen $4,543 Christine $10,986 Jolie $554 Jennifer $1,154 Total $26,026 Homeownership Program — This program had a very busy productive year. • 82 HCV recipients received case management • 2 families left HCV and purchased homes on their own • 16 families decided not to purchase a home and continue renting through the HCV program • 48 families have implemented a monthly budget • 22 families have improved their credit scores • 31 families are saving for a down payment • 16 families are not actively working toward their goal • 11 families from the community (not involved with the HCV program) received foreclosure prevention guidance • 4 HCV homeowners received in-depth budget counseling to help them remain current on their mortgages • The Homeownership Program has a solid relationship with 6 lending institutions, 5 realtors and 4 down payment assistance organizations • 3 families became homeowners in 2005 • 6 families are in the process of applying for a mortgage in 2006 • FCHA will provide in home maintenance instruction and schedules for all new home owners • Educating community about predatory lending • Refers community members to appropriate community agencies continually • Building relationships with other community businesses to meet client needs First Step — As earlier mentioned, the First Step resident services coordinator has had a very busy hear working with these families who were homeless or near -homeless upon admission. He is currently serving 38 families. Other Highlights — In 2005, the resident services coordinators provided three separate sessions of Financial Fitness training for all program participants. All families now submit a monthly budget to their coordinator. In addition, in 2005 the vocational assessment system was formalized with all families who had not previously done so completing a formal vocational assessment. Resident services staff continued to coordinate volunteer efforts, including holiday sponsors, numerous donations including computer equipment for families, and all kinds of other miscellaneous community support! FINANCE A new cost tracking system was refined. The initial data was very helpful and helped us identify problem areas. This year we are moving forward with tracking all labor costs by project to compare to our allocation method. Prior to 2004, the Fort Collins Housing Authority and the Fort Collins Housing Corporation had taken a portfolio approach to costing and budgeting. Other activities: • Banking services were analyzed and FirstBank was selected as our primary bank at the beginning of 2005 which resulted in a six -fold increase in interest income for the year. • The pay plan was again updated utilizing a consultant. This year we focused on including internal equity in ranges and pay equity adjustments were approved for 2006. • Received an "A" rating for Finance under the Public Housing Assessment System. • The agency received another clean audit report. • Extremely successful receiving competitive grants! Competitive Grant Awards 2004-2005 on Cowan, State of Colorado 2005 120,000 -Village Village on Cowan, City of Fort Collins Fall 110,358 2005 Village on Plum Rehab, City of Fort Collins 304,296 Fall 2005 HCV FSS and Homeownership 2006 124,930 Housing Choice Voucher Program Family 52,890 Self Sufficiency Coordinator Salary 2004 Housing Choice Voucher Program Family 53,419 Self Sufficiency Coordinator Salary 2005 Homeownership Coordinator Salary 2005 55,875 closing fees 2004-2005 16,000 -Horneownership Public Housing Family Self Sufficiency Coordinator Salary 2005 55,875 Public Housing Family Self Sufficiency Coordinator Salary 2006 56,434 Village on Plum Rehab, City of Fort Collins 342,018 2004 Village on Plum Rehab, City of Fort Collins 300,000 Spring 2005 Village on Plum Rehab, State of Colorado 477,500 2005 Myrtle SRO Rehab and mortgage pay off, 222,565 City of Fort Collins 2004 15` Street SRO Rehab, City of Fort Collins 136,455 2004 Village on Bryan Rehab, City of Fort 152,735 Collins Spring 2005 First Step (Tenant -based rental assistance 465,665 pilot program) State of Colorado 2004 First Step (Tenant -based rental assistance 169,651 pilot program) City Contribution 2004 Total $3,216 666 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY The Fort Collins Housing Authority strives to keep all information technology systems up-to-date to provide the best possible service to our customers. New computers have been purchased and configured to support the upgrade to Emphasys Computer Solutions windows based product (Elite). Emphasys Computer Systems is our Housing Authority software vendor for transmission of all data to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The conversion is underway and should be completed by March of 2006. The Network is connected to the City of Fort Collins Network. Services provided include; Novell Netware and Zen Works GroupWise and Internet access and McAfee virus scan. The City keeps all of these services up to date with the assistance of our IT person. FCHA continues to refine its website and develop ways for the community to access our programs electronically. COMMUNITY COORDINATION AND ADVOCACY In 2005, FCHA partnered with the following entities through leadership, advocacy, coordination and support: ■ Fort Collins Apartment Owners Association ■ Neighborhood Task Force ■ Larimer County Affordable Housing Coalition ■ Larimer County Workforce Investment Board: Executive Committee and Youth Council ■ Neighbor to Neighbor ■ CARE Housing, Inc. ■ Project Self Sufficiency ■ Social Services Family Response Team ■ Northern Front Range Continuum of Care ■ Interfaith Council • Mental Health and Substance Abuse Partnership • CORE Center/Poudre Valley Mobile Home Park ■ Larimer County Community Corrections - Women's Transition ■ Poudre School District ■ First United Methodist Church ■ Eastgate Homeowners Association ■ Stanford Homeowners Association • Thunderbird East Neighborhood Association ■ Northside Neighborhoods Plan Technical Advisory Committee ■ FirstCall ServiceNet ■ Housing Services Day Center Steering Committee and Building Committee ■ City Manager's Executive Lead Team and Budgeting for Outcomes Team Chair ■ National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials: State, Regional and National ■ Housing NOW Conference ■ Colorado Coalition for the Homeless ■ Larimer County Home Improvement Program (LaHIP) • Larimer County Homeownership Program (LaHOP) ■ Larimer County Drug Task Force ■ Crossroads Safehouse • Housing Authority of the City of Loveland ■ Front Range Community College Advisory Board 0 Attachment A Fort Collins Public Housing 2005 Demographics 2005 Fort Collins Public Ho sing Distribution by Average Annual Income (%) Extremely Low Income, Very Low Income, Low Income, Below 30% of Median or 50% of Median or $34,600 80% of Median or $55,350 < $20,750 family of 4 for family of 4 for family of 4 87 13 1 1 2005 Fort Collins Public Housin Average Annual Income ($ Fort Collins Public Housiniz 9,474 Colorado Overall Average 10,506 2005 Fort Collins Public Housing Distribution by Source of Income (%) With any wages With any welfare With any SSI/SS/Pension With any other income 39 1 28 1 33 1 23 2005 Fort Collins Public Housing Distribution by Total Tenant Pa ment (%) $0 1 $1-$25 1 $26-$50 1 $51-$100 1 $101-$200 1 $201-$350 1 $351-$500 1 $501+ 01 01 151 13 1 311 191 171 5 2005 Fort Collins Public Ho sing Distribution by Family Type (%) Elderly, Elderly, Non- Non- Elderly, Elderly, Non- Non- All no with elderly, elderly, no with elderly, elderly, female children, children, no with children, children, no with headed non- non- children, children, disabled disabled children, children, househld disabled disabled non- non- disabled disabled with disabled disabled children 0 0 2 66 5 0 21 5 68 Housing Choice Voucher Program 2005 Demographics 2005 Fort Collins HCV Aver¢ e Annual Income ($) Fort Collins HCV 9,937 Colorado Overall Average 10,175 2005 Fort Collins HCV Distribution by Source o Income (%) With any wages With any welfare With any SSI/SS/Pension With any other income 341 171 47 1 23 10 2005 Fort Collins HCV Distribution by Total Tenant Payment (% $0 $1-$25 $26-$50 $51-$100 1 $101-$200 1 $201-$350 $351-$500 $501+ 1 0 13 121 33 23 11 7 2005 Fort Collins HCV Distribution by Famil T e (%) Elderly, Elderly, Non- Non- Elderly, Elderly, Non- Non- All no with elderly, elderly, no with elderly, elderly, female children, children, no with children, children, no with headed non- non- children, children, disabled disabled children, children, househld disabled disabled non- non- disabled disabled with disabled disabled children 8 0 7 45 6 1 25 1 8 49 2005 Fort Collins HCV Avera a Tenant Pa me nt by Family Type ($) Elderly, Elderly, Non- Non- Elderly, Elderly, Non- Non- All no with elderly, elderly, no with elderly, elderly, female children, children, no with children, children, no with headed non- non- children, children, disabled disabled children, children, househld disabled disabled non- non- disabled disabled with disabled disabled children 23, 506 237 220 228 389 197 268 220 11