Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 05/06/2021 AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING Thursday, May 6, 4 pm Remote/ZOOM due to COVID-19 05/06/20 21 – MINUTES Page 1 1 CALL TO ORDER At 4:03 PM the meeting was called to order by Kristin Fritz. 2 ROLL CALL a Board Members Present: Diane Cohn, Kristin Fritz, Bob Pawlikowski, Tatiana Zentner, Daphne Bear, John Singleton b Board Members Absent: Jennifer Bray c Staff Members Present: ▪ Sue Beck-Ferkiss, Staff Liaison – City of Fort Collins ▪ Kleena Brown, Minutes – City of Fort Collins ▪ Meaghan Overton (joined in progress) – City of Fort Collins d Citizens Present: ▪ Marilyn Heller 3 AGENDA REVIEW - no changes 4 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION a Marilyn Heller mentioned Legal Woman Voters Affordable Housing Team will have Thistle’s Andy Kadlec as a guest speaker for their Thursday, May 13th meeting. Thistle helps mobile home parks residents buy their park. Andy Kadlec will discuss the possible purchase of Hickory Village. The owner has an offer for $23 million to buy the park, and residents have 90 days for opportunity to purchase. The residents have 90 days to make and offer come up with financing plan. 5 APPROVAL OF MINUTES Bob moved to approve April minutes. John seconded. Approved 6-0. 6 NEW BUSINESS a Income Qualified Assistance Program Update and Proposed Changes – Jamie Gaskill and Brian Tholl - City Utilities Department ▪ Extend IQAP pilot program (discounted rate program) another 3 years - set to expire July 31, 2021 o Estimated six thousand more utilities customers could benefit from program DocuSign Envelope ID: 2A1C56E3-5598-4397-8161-EDE0791B2175 AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 05/06/20 21 – MINUTES Page 2 o Average $200 annual utility bill savings o First year of program did see approximately 5% increase in energy use from discounted rate customers versus income qualified customers who were not enrolled ▪ Move to auto-enroll process/opt-out program instead of an application based/opt-in program. o Benefits to auto enroll: customer focused program thus reducing barriers; shortens process; reduces admin time; gives option to opt out; could almost doubles participation of residents o Proposed start date at beginning of October DISCUSSION AND FEEDBACK SUMMARY: ▪ Participants must initially apply for Colorado’s Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) even if in auto enroll. ▪ Jaime confirmed that even if customer increased energy use, they still saved money on bills. ▪ Customers largely reported increase comfort in homes, and security in ability to pay bill ▪ Full paying users saw conservation of 1.5 to 2%. ▪ Auto enrollment may ease the burden of income qualified folks who typically have a lot of forms/applications to fill out ▪ Qualifications for LEAP: o 60% > state median income ▪ Factors, like the pandemic, contributed to 4% increase overall in energy use. o These factors likely distorted the outcome of the pilot program ▪ Board members discussed extending the pilot to evaluate program o Hope to have better data Bob moved to recommend to Council that the IQAP pilot be extended by 3 years and to move from an application-based system to an auto enroll system. Tatiana seconded. Motion passes 6-0. b Update on Fee Credit Requests and Metro District policy - Sue Beck-Ferkiss ▪ Fee Credit Requests Board members were thanked for their recommendation to support fee credit requests. Sue stated that they have received what was expected in terms of requests and will forward it on to Council consideration on May 18. Currently scheduled for consent but could be a discussion item. Council Finance Committee also recommended supporting the fee credit requests. o Two different projects: ▪ Oak 140 – 7 qualifying new units ($90k in fee credits) DocuSign Envelope ID: 2A1C56E3-5598-4397-8161-EDE0791B2175 AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 05/06/20 21 – MINUTES Page 3 ▪ Cadence by Volunteers of America – 18 qualifying units ($250k in fee credits) o If Council grants the request s, they will make the appropriations at the same time. o First use of the new Fee credit process o Funds will be dropped into a trust account (if approved) that agencies can use for any fees they owe the city o Diane disclosed that she is an employee with Volunteers of America. However, she is not a part of the housing division; she is part of services. ▪ Metro District policy: Council adopted new score card and anticipates reviewing in 2 years. c Allocation of 2021 Private Activity Bond (PAB) – Sue Beck-Ferkiss (Kristin recused from discussion) o Private activity bonds- capacity to borrow money at tax exempt rates. Can be used for economic development as well as affordable housing. Amount of bonds based on population-based formula by IRS. Every year the city gets and allocation. The city has 9.4 million this year. o If bond capacity is not assigned, then the bond will return to state balance on September 16th. o Housing Catalyst is requesting the full 2021 allocation for the rehabilitation and new construction of affordable housing at the Impala project. o The Private Activity Bond Committee recommends the city assigns full 2021 allocation to Housing Catalyst’s Impala Project. Similarly, the Affordable Housing Board is being asked for a recommendation. Diane moved to recommend assigning the City’s entire 2021 PAB allocation to Housing Catalyst for the Impala project. John seconded. Motion passes 5-0-1. (Kristin recused) d Housing Strategic Plan – Meaghan Overton ▪ Community Summit Overview (Three workshops) o Workshop 1 - Increase housing supply choice ▪ Visitability policy; recalibrate existing incentives; barriers to missing middle and innovative housing development; barrier to allowed densities and code revisions; collaboration across water districts ▪ Next Steps: Land Use Code (LUC) changes work underway ▪ Timeline (1-2yrs): Appropriation Q1, work began Q2 2021; hope to have something in DocuSign Envelope ID: 2A1C56E3-5598-4397-8161-EDE0791B2175 AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 05/06/20 21 – MINUTES Page 4 front of Council one year from now o Workshop 2 – Improve housing stability and health ▪ Rental licensing/registration; revisions to occupancy limits and family definitions; organizing efforts in manufactured home communities; foreclosure, eviction and legal representation; small landlord incentives; fair housing ▪ Next Steps: Occupancy and Rental Programming ▪ Timeline (1-2+ years): work began Q2 2021; will require a lot of community involvement o Workshop 3 – Build and preserve affordable housing ▪ New dedicated revenue source for affordable housing; partnerships with local Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs); Public Sector right of first offer/refusal; extend city’s affordability term; tenant right of first offer/refusal for multifamily and manufactured housing; displacement and gentrification ▪ Next Steps: Explore and identify additional revenue sources for Affordable Housing Fund, and strengthen partnerships with financial sector ▪ Timeline (1-2+ yrs): murkier time frame due to transition of new Council ▪ Quicker Wins Identified by Housing Ad Hoc Committee (Timeline <1): ▪ Assess displacement and gentrification risk ▪ Extend the city’s affordability term ▪ Recalibrate existing incentives to reflect current market conditions ▪ Create additional incentives for affordable housing ▪ Foreclosure and eviction prevention and legal representation DISCUSSION AND FEEDBACK SUMMARY: o Approach to foreclosure and eviction prevention and legal representation; Impacts on ending of eviction moratorium; Impacts on ending of eviction moratorium; funded through CARES (federal stimulus) dollars o Municipal Immigration Legal Fund and Eviction Defense Fund are parallel programs. However, the community has some Eviction Defense Fund resources, but resources for Municipal Immigration Legal Fund does not exist. o Budgeting For Outcomes (BFOs): finalized budget for Council consideration in September o Board members discussed having a key role in the implementation process of the Housing Strategic Plan. ▪ Land use code integral to Affordable Housing Board ▪ Map out sequencing of strategic plan. o There is support for the virtual meeting format. It allows for broader participation, and more open discussions DocuSign Envelope ID: 2A1C56E3-5598-4397-8161-EDE0791B2175 AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 05/06/20 21 – MINUTES Page 5 o Board members discussed the means of prepping folks to discuss more complex housing processes o Scorecards and other KPIs (key performance indicators) better engage the community and helps to show progress o New Council is set to have their first retreat to set priorities. Housing will likely be a factor in the discussions ▪ Emily still the City Council liaison for the board. This may change after City Council retreat o There is discussion on having this board be at the forefront of educating City Council in affordable housing ▪ Plan for future meetings to invite Council members for discussion o Next month’s Meeting: Plan to have Meaghan comeback to plan for key phases in the strategic plan, and how it coincides with this board’s future agendas. Also, will converse more on Land use code, zoning and density in particular o Check in with Marcy to attend future board meeting regarding occupancy work. 7 BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a Liaison Reports – NA 8 OTHER BUSINESS a City Council 6-month planning calendar review – NA b Council Comments – NA c Review 2021 Work Plan – NA d Update on Affordable Housing Projects – NA e Future AHB Meetings Agenda – NA 9 Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 6:02 PM DocuSign Envelope ID: 2A1C56E3-5598-4397-8161-EDE0791B2175