Affordable Housing Advisory Board

City of Lawrence

February 8, 2016 minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Emmanuel Birdling, Stuart Boley, Rebecca Buford, John Harvey, Dana Ortiz, Shannon Oury, Tim Stultz, Matt Sturtevant

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Nancy Thellman

STAFF PRESENT:

Casey Toomay, Assistant City Manager; Scott McCullough, Director of Planning and Development Services; Danelle Dresslar, Community Development Manager; Brad Karr, Community Development Programs Analyst

Chair Matt Sturtevant called the meeting to order at 11:03 am.

1. Approve minutes from January 11, 2016 meeting

Shannon Oury moved to approve the meeting minutes from January 11, 2016. John Harvey seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.

2. Public Comment

Steve Ozark presented the Board with a chart from Justice Matters detailing the responses received to a question posed to affordable housing providers about spending percentages across the housing vision chart. The majority choice for new money to be spent on affordable housing was for transitional housing. Justice Matters would like the Board to consider these responses when discussing the 2017 budget.

3. Consider approval of 2015 Annual Report (due March 1, 2016)

Casey Toomay presented the Board with a draft of the 2015 Annual Report. The report summarizes activities of the Board in 2015, projects recommended by the Board in 2015, financial transactions in 2015 and a project forecast for 2016.

Rebecca Buford asked why other 2015 affordable housing activities in the City were not listed on the report along with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects, for example the Cedarwood Senior Cottages being built by Tenants to Homeowners. Stuart Boley said he would like the report to list all things the City has done for affordable housing in 2015. Oury asked if it should include funding allocated by other boards, including the Community Development Advisory Committee. Boley indicated any funding related specifically to affordable housing should be included to establish a 2015 baseline. Boley also stated the 2016 forecast should include the $100,000 allocated to the LDCHA for transitional housing. Dresslar asked for guidance from the Board on how to report federal grant allocations that other Boards allocate and also report on.

Scott McCullough stated the principal question is whether this Annual Report should detail just this Board’s activity as the Ordinance states, or all affordable housing efforts. City-wide affordable housing efforts are already detailed in the Affordable Housing Background and Market Analysis Memo provided in the Board’s packet and available on the City’s website.

Boley stated he felt the report should list both activities by this Board and all other city-wide activities related to affordable housing. Toomay suggested the Annual Report list activities by this Board, but also has a link to other documents showing all city-wide affordable housing efforts.

Oury suggested only funding related directly to a housing unit be considered as affordable housing activity. Boley agreed the funding needed to be directly tied to housing to be listed on the baseline. Oury warned of double counting units if individuals are already housed in a unit, but then receive emergency housing assistance from another Public Service Agency. McCullough stated those funds do need to be counted in the total funding resources spent on affordable housing, even if it does not add a new unit on the ground.

Boley suggested the Board might be making the Annual Report more complicated than it need be, and a different document be used to provide the 2015 baseline of all city-wide funding related directly to affordable housing units.

Sturtevant suggested tabling the approval of the 2015 Annual Report until the February 22, 2016 meeting. Boley agreed a separate 2015 baseline report could be completed at a time in the future, but felt the $100,000 from the 2016 budget for the LDCHA transitional housing program should be listed in the Annual Report 2016 Project Forecast. Toomay agreed to add the $100,000 to the 2016 Project Forecast and also to add the Cedarwood Senior Cottages to the 2015 Project Status.

4. Consider Proposed Parameters for Housing Authority Funding for 2016

Oury presented the Board with a handout detailing options for the parameters for the new transitional housing program funded from the 2016 City budget. Douglas County allocated $50,000 for a transitional housing program focused first on families and Douglas County residents. The City allocated $100,000 with this Board needing to make a recommendation to the City Commission on parameters for focusing the funds. Oury reached out to the City Commissioners to ask for any specific program requirements they felt to be important. Some options provided for the parameters include focusing on families, Douglas County residents, working participants, and Bert Nash clients.

Oury asked the Board to include in the recommendation the need for the program to mirror the existing HOME TBRA program length of 24 months.

Buford asked if the parameters could be families and Douglas County residents with a priority given to single parents. Oury said a point system priority could be used to move single parents to the top of the waiting list. Dana Ortiz suggested the Board not prioritize single parents to avoid forcing a family to split in order to move up on the waiting list. Oury agreed splitting a family in order to get housed can lead to additional problems.

Buford asked if to maintain consistency, the parameters for the City program mirror the County program with a focus on families and Douglas County residents. Oury said yes, it would make the program easier to administer, and data could still be provided to the City Commission on if the families were working or a single parent. If the program is set up with too many parameters, it could be difficult to find the right combination of attributes at the time the funding is available.

Toomay agreed to draft a memo with the recommendation for the parameters of the program be focused on families and Douglas County residents, with the program structured to provide housing for a period of 24 months. The memo will need to be approved at a future Board meeting and then placed on a City Commission agenda for approval.

5. Discuss Tax Credit Application Process and Role of AHAB

Due to time constraints, Toomay suggested this item be discussed at a future meeting.

6. Receive and Discuss Staff Information on Affordable Housing Programs and Funding Sources

McCullough indicated this item will take the better part of an entire future meeting to start the discussion on long-term programs and funding sources. Toomay suggested moving this item to the February 22, 2016 agenda.

Oury asked for a detailed breakdown of the dollar amounts in the City General Fund and City Non-General Fund attributed to affordable housing. McCullough indicated the Staff presentation will include a detailed breakdown of those figures.

7. Other New Business / Future Business

Sturtevant asked how many proposals have been received so far for the demonstration project. Toomay indicated no proposals have been received, but several inquiries have been made. The deadline to receive the proposals is February 19, 2016.

8. Next Meeting – Review Proposals for Demonstration Project

The next meeting will be February 22, 2016. The agenda will contain a review of proposals for the Demonstration project and Staff information on Affordable Housing Programs and Funding Sources.

9. Adjourn

Boley moved to adjourn the meeting. Ortiz seconded the motion. The motion passed 8-0.

Future Meeting Dates / Tentative Agenda items

February 22, 2016 - review submitted demonstration project applications; Affordable Housing Programs and Funding Sources

March 14 – no meeting

April 11 – 2017 budget overview; long term revenue streams for trust fund; Health Department

May 9

June 13

July 11

August 8

September 12

October 10

November 14

December 12

These minutes were approved by the Board February 22, 2016.