TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Tom Kisela, City Manager
FROM: Russell Bunim, Community Development Director
1. Subject
title
Public Hearing to consider an amendment to the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan to add a Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program and updates to the Citizen Participation Plan.
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2. Summary
Public Hearing to consider the approval to add a Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program as a goal in the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan and approve updates to the Citizen Participation Plan that includes expanding the scope of the Community Development Block Grant Program Committee and adding changes to the Citizen Participation Plan as a substantial amendment.
3. Recommended Action
recommendation
1. Conduct and close Public Hearing.
2. Approve the draft amendment to the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan.
3. Approve the updates to the Citizen Participation Plan.
4. Authorize staff to incorporate comments received for the amendment to the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan at the Public Hearing before submitting to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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4. Fiscal Impact
None.
5. Strategic Plan Goals
Goal 3: Enhance and promote quality of life in the community
e: Develop and strengthen collaborative partnerships to enhance and promote quality of life programs, projects, and services.
6. Discussion and Background
Background
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) was passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress appropriated $5.0 billion in ARP funds to be administered through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to distribute the funds to participating jurisdictions (PJ) that qualified for an allocation of HOME funds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, of which Orange was a recipient.
On September 20, 2021, the City was notified that it was allocated $1,655,186 in HOME-ARP funds. In order to access the funds, the City developed a HOME-ARP Allocation Plan (Plan) that described the consultation and public participation process that the City engaged in developing the Plan and outlines how the City will use HOME-ARP funds. The Plan was approved by HUD on May 8, 2023.
To meet the housing requirement of the HOME-ARP grant and address some of the housing assistance needed within the City, the Plan proposed to establish a Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program (TBRA) with its annual HOME entitlement fund. A TBRA Program is a rental subsidy to assist individual households afford housing costs such as rent or security deposits.
On May 9, 2023, the City Council approved $150,000 for a TBRA Program as part of its 2023-2024 Annual Action Plan using HOME entitlement funds. The Annual Action Plan is required by HUD and outlines the City’s intent for the use of funds in a given entitlement year.
On November 14, 2023, the City Council approved a TBRA program to provide security and utilities deposit rental assistance to be funded out of the HOME entitlement funds with the following preferences:
1. Current City of Orange resident with intention to continue to reside in the City of Orange;
2. Families with children under 12;
3. Veterans with honorable discharge; and
4. Elderly as defined by the Social Security Administration for full retirement qualification.
Additionally:
1. Security and utility deposits are to be paid to the landlord or property manager directly in the form of a grant to the tenant, with remaining funds at the end of residency are to be returned to the City as Program Income;
2. Participant referral from a supportive services organization serving residents of the City of Orange is required as part of the qualification criteria for applying for TBRA assistance;
3. Tenants are to be incentivized to receive full deposit back at the end of lease by:
a. Disqualifying tenants from future qualification if they lose more than 50% of their deposit assistance;
b. Granting 1/3 of the deposit returned to the tenant if 85% or more of original deposit is refunded to the City;
4. Tenants verify eligibility for security deposits through the Cal Aim program first.
Substantial Amendment Criteria
The City’s Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) details the citizen involvement in the amendment process for the Consolidated Plan (Con Plan) and describes how the City complies with federal regulations in providing opportunities for the public to participate in an advisory role in the planning, implementation, and assessment of programs and projects for CDBG funding.
The adopted CPP states that a substantial amendment to the Con Plan is required when there is:
1. A change in goals and policies of the Annual Action Plan or Consolidated Plan;
2. Allocation of CDBG and HOME funds, including program income, to a new activity not previously described in the Annual Action Plan or Consolidated Plan;
3. A substantial change in the purpose, scope, location, or beneficiaries of an existing activity; and/or
4. A reallocation of more than 20% of CDBG or HOME entitlement funds for the program year.
The determination for the substantial change criteria to the 2020-2024 Con Plan utilized by the City of Orange in this case, is determined by the following:
1. A change in the goals to add Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) to the Consolidated Plan
2. Allocation of HOME funds to a new activity for TBRA
Updates to Citizen Participation Plan
Staff is also recommending updates to the CPP that include some language and grammar updates with the following significant updates:
1. Increase the number of CDBG Committee members from five to seven;
2. Add review of changes to the CPP as a task of the CDBG Committee prior to submitting to City Council for approval;
3. Add review of substantial amendment requests by the CDBG Committee for recommendation prior to submitting to City Council for approval;
4. Define updates to the CPP procedures, requirements, or other material changes as a substantial amendment;
5. Clarify that the notice of the 30-day review period and Public Hearing meets the noticing requirement for a substantial amendment.
Public Review of Con Plan Amendment and Notice of Public Hearing
The City advertised the availability of the draft Con Plan Amendment (Amendment) and updates to the CPP on November 30, 2023 in the Orange City News. Copies of the Amendment and updated CPP were made available for public review and comment from November 30, 2023 to January 2, 2024 at the following locations:
1. Community Development Department
2. Orange Main Library
3. City Clerk’s Office
4. City website
No comments were received during the public review and comment period.
Staff recommends the approval of the Con Plan Amendment and updates to the CPP.
7. ATTACHMENTS
• Draft Amendment to the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan
• Draft Citizen Participation Plan