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Report regarding conducting a Public Hearing on the City’s housing, community, and economic development needs for the City’s Community Development Block Grant Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Annual Action Plan. (Kris Romasanta, Community Development Coordinator)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a Public Hearing, receive public testimony on the City’s housing, community, and economic development needs for City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Annual Action Plan, and provide staff direction regarding funding priorities.
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BACKGROUND
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires local jurisdictions to prepare an Annual Action Plan (Action Plan) to receive funds through the CDBG Program. As part of the development of the Action Plan, the City is required to hold two public hearings.
The purpose of the first public hearing on March 24, 2021 is to obtain residents’ views on housing, community, and economic development needs that will inform the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 (FY 21-22) Action Plan. Additionally, non-profit organizations seeking CDBG funds may use this public hearing to make brief comments to City Council regarding their programs. The City Council may take this opportunity to ask non-profit organizations questions regarding their proposed activities and give staff direction regarding funding priorities. This public hearing was published in the San Mateo County Times on March 10, 2021.
The second public hearing, planned for April 28, 2021, will consider adoption of the FY 21-22 Action Plan and make final allocations of CDBG funding.
DISCUSSION
The City’s entitlement allocation for FY 21-22 is $500,685. Since the City received its entitlement amount earlier than in previous years, the CDBG Standing Committee of the City Council (Subcommittee) and City Council can make final budget allocations for public service sub-recipients and programs in the Action Plan considered on April 28, 2021.
There are two spending limits prescribed by HUD. A total of 15% of the entitlement amount plus 15% of prior year program income may be allocated to non-profit organizations for public services. The amount available for public services is $77,860. Additionally, administrative expenses (such as City staff time to administer the grant) are limited to 20% of the entitlement amount plus 20% of the estimated program income of the previous year. The amount available for administrative expenses is $103,137.
The budget recommendation for City Sponsored Activities is $77,000. This category includes the housing rehabilitation loan program, debris box vouchers, and emergency home repairs. Moreover, the remaining balance for non-restricted funds is $149,938, which is reserved for capital improvements, or the Irish Town Green project.
The following is a summary of activities funded through the City’s CDBG program.
Public Services
The City receives applications from non-profits interested in providing public services to South San Francisco residents every two years. Those funded in year one submit a renewal application for year two. Fiscal Year 2020-2021 (FY 20-21) was the first year of the current two-year funding cycle.
On April 24, 2020, City Council awarded 16 grants to non-profit public service providers. These non-profits were invited to submit a renewal application for FY 21-22 funds. A summary of the funding requests and performance goals is included in Attachment 1. The renewal applications are provided in Attachment 2.
Debris Box Vouchers
Debris Box Vouchers are issued to clear code violations and for emergencies. Debris box vouchers are targeted for the cleanup of conditions that affect the health, safety, or appearance of properties.
Emergency Home Repair Vouchers
Emergency Home Repair Vouchers are provided as grants of up to $5,500 for qualifying homeowners. These vouchers apply to emergency minor home repairs and minor code violations, such as broken sewer lines, water heater replacement, roof repairs, broken windows, etc. These grants have no fees or charges except any required permit fees. The homeowner is responsible for any costs beyond the grant amount.
Public Improvement Projects
Due to the pandemic, in FY 19-20 and 20-21 Council elected to reprogram the City’s public improvement project funds for economic development, specifically the City’s forgivable loans for small businesses impacted by COVID. For FY 21-22, the CDBG Subcommittee recommends funding improvements at the Irish Town Green, which was originally set to be funded in FY 20-21. Funds will be used to create an accessible, safe, user-friendly park and sporting field site for the surrounding neighborhoods. A fence and pathway will be installed so that users can access the site safely.
Fair Housing
The City receives a small amount of federal HOME Administrative funds from the County to further fair housing and fair housing activities. These activities can only be funded from administration or public service type funds. In FY 20-21, the HOME Administrative funds were allocated to Project Sentinel, a non-profit fair housing provider. Project Sentinel has submitted a renewal application for this cycle. No other sub-recipients have requested HOME Administrative funds.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no known fiscal impact. In order for the City to allocate federal funds, two Public Hearings must be held. This is the first of those two hearings. At a subsequent City Council meeting, Council will be asked to consider adopting the Annual Action Plan following the second Public Hearing.
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
By completing the HUD-mandated public process, including the required Annual Action Plan, the City will be able to secure its allocation of CDBG funds for the coming year. This, in turn will advance several components of the City’s Strategic Plan, in particular:
Provide funding for social services and public projects to support residents (Strategic Plan Priority #2 Quality of Life)
• Help fund non-profits that work to address various affordable housing-related issues (Initiative 2.3 - Promote a balanced mix of housing options)
• Shift the financial burden away from the City’s General Fund by securing Federal grant funds (Priority Area 3 Financial Stability)
• Partner with non-profits that provide information to local residents and help strengthen community relationship (Priority Area 6 Community Connections)
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that the City Council conduct a public hearing, receive testimony on the City’s housing, community, and economic development needs for the Annual Action Plan, and provide direction to the CDBG Subcommittee regarding funding priorities.
Attachments:
1. FY 21-22 Grant Allocation Requests
2. FY 21-22 Renewal Applications