Title
Report regarding a resolution amending the City of South San Francisco’s Community Development Block Grant Program Year 2024-2025 Annual Action Plan and authorizing its submittal and all other required documents to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; (Alvina Condon, Management Analyst II)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council hold a Public Hearing to receive public testimony and comments on an Amendment to the City of South San Francisco’s Program Year (“PY”) 2024-25 Annual Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) Program, and to adopt a resolution that approves the PY 2024-25 Annual Action Plan Amendment and authorizes staff to submit the amended Action Plan and all other required documents to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”).
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BACKGROUND
Staff is recommending that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco (“City”) hold a public hearing to receive public comments on an Amendment to the City of South San Francisco’s CDBG PY 2024-25 Annual Action Plan (“Action Plan”) for the City’s CDBG Program.
The Action Plan assesses the City’s housing, community, and economic development needs and available resources, and outlines a strategy to address them. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) requires local jurisdictions to prepare an Action Plan to receive funds through the CDBG Program. The City’s PY 2024-25 Action Plan was initially approved by the City Council on May 8, 2024.
The Action Plan Amendment was made available on November 1, 2024, for a 30-day public comment period. The public notice of the Action Plan’s availability for comment was published in the San Mateo County Times on October 30, 2024, and on the City’s website, and made available at all South San Francisco Public Libraries and at the Economic & Community Development Department.
DISCUSSION
At the close of PY 2023-24, which ended on June 30, 2024, staff identified that funding for prior year projects had not been fully spent down and would be available for future projects. Specifically, an additional $566,695 of funding from the prior year was identified and now needs to be reallocated. The source of unspent funds is as follows.
• $87,000 from the 2023-24 Minor Home Repair project.
• $77,000 from the 2023-24 City Sponsored Minor Home Rehabilitation Program, Debris Box, and Emergency Repair.
• $76,579 from historical loans that were recently repaid.
• $326,100 from miscellaneous projects that did not utilize all their funding.
In order to utilize these unspent funds, the Action Plan Amendment increases the PY 2024-25 Public Facilities and Infrastructure Improvements budget from $277,248 to $861,980.78. These funds will be spent down within the next six to nine months on approximately 65 curb ramps citywide and the construction of a new accessibility project at the Cypress and Pine Park. Details of this substantial public improvement project are included in the attached presentation.
The timing of spending down these funds is critical. The City received a timeliness letter from HUD in June 2024 informing the City it is not carrying out its CDBG Program in a timely manner. A grantee is considered to be in compliance if 60 days prior to the end of its program year the balance in the grantee’s line of credit, plus the balance of program income on hand, is not more than 1.5 times the most recent entitlement grant. The City’s balance was in excess of this statutory limit and therefore in August 2024, the City submitted a CDBG Workout Plan outlining how the City will spend down its CDBG funds in a timely manner. The proposed curb ramp and accessibility projects were selected after close consultation with the Parks and Recreation Department, Capital Projects Department, and Public Works Department on outstanding infrastructure needs citywide. Specifically, the proposed projects are carefully designed to meet statutory CDBG requirements (for eligible low income and disabled communities) and can be completed, to a high degree of certainty, within the allowable timeframe.
Two additional changes are being made through this Amendment, which would ordinarily be handled administratively due to their low dollar value. The first is adjusting the Public Services budget from $69,000 to $66,500 to comply with the statutory limit on Public Services. The previously approved Action Plan used an estimate of anticipated entitlement funds from HUD, as the City had not yet been advised of its funding award prior to the City having to adopt an Action Plan to comply with statutory deadlines. The PY 2024-25 award is now known and so the exact dollar figure can be adjusted through this amendment. The second is reducing the City’s Minor Home Repair program from $100,000 to $90,000, as one of the City’s program providers no longer has staffing to support their home accessibility modifications program.
FISCAL IMPACT
The adoption of the associated resolution will have no impact on the General Fund. In Spring of 2025, a budget amendment will be proposed to adjust the FY 2024-25 Capital Improvement Program expense budget and authorize a construction contract. Approving the resolution enables the City to fund meaningful public improvements and demonstrates a commitment to delivering impactful projects that enhance accessibility citywide.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends City Council hold a Public Hearing to receive public testimony and comments on an Amendment to the City’s PY 2024-25 Annual Action Plan for the CDBG Program, and to adopt a resolution that approves the PY 2024-25 Annual Action Plan Amendment and authorizes staff to submit the amended Action Plan and all other required documents to HUD.
Attachments:
1. PowerPoint Presentation “Amendment to the CDBG PY 2024-2025 Annual Action Plan”