2012/04/25 Council Agenda Packet

3 Staff Report for Community Development Block Grant, HOME, and Housing Trust Funds — 2060 The Citizen's Committee for Housing and Community Development reviewed proposals for the expenditure of the City of Everett's Community Development Block Grant program and other available funding for housing. The deadline for grant applications was December 21, 2011. The Committee studied each proposal and interviewed each proponent. Five meetings and ten hours of interviews took place. The Committee spent additional hours at home reviewing the Consolidated Plan and proposals for Community Development Block Grant spending. The City's 2012 Community Development Block Grant is $770,643 which is a reduction from $837,002.00 in 2011. Federal funding has been reduced the last four years and is trending down. The Committee recommends funding public services at the maximum allowed by HUD, fifteen percent of the grant. Fifteen percent of $770,643 is $115,596.45. There are also public service funds from prior years available for reallocation in the amount of $11,980.00 as a result of the closing of Deaconess Children's Services. The total recommended for public service activities is $127,546.45. The Committee recommends using the remaining 85% of the 2012 CDBG award, $655,046.55, for eligible non-public service projects. There are also Housing Trust 2060, HOME, and CHIP rehabilitation funds available to fund projects. The Committee recommends using $139,941.04 in Housing Trust 2060 funds for funding homeless and domestic violence shelters. The priority for HOME funds has been the CHIP Rehabilitation loan fund so the Committee recommends $304,214.00 in 2012 HOME funding to CHIP for low income homeowner rehabilitation. The total amount proposed for CDBG non-public service, HOME, and 2060 Housing Trust Fund projects is $1,099,201.59. If the Department of Housing and Urban Development reduces or increases this allocation, each item will be reduced or increased an equal percentage, including the Community Housing Improvement Program and Community Development Block Grant Administration. This is unlikely this year since we have received official notice of funding amounts this year. The Annual Action Plan was available for public comment for 30 days commencing March 12, 2012 and ending on April 12, 2012. No comments were received. Each one of the members of the Committee provided a valuable contribution to this recommendation. This group was very dedicated while performing this difficult task. Staff congratulates the Committee for a job well done and thanks them for their time and effort. Participating Committee members were: Rick Dorris, Gregg Elder, David Simpson - Chair, Kaye Phinney, Greg Campbell, Maddy Metzger-Utt, Peter Sontra, Bruce Overstreet, and Tim Knopf. The recommended funding allocations to agencies/programs and brief program descriptions follow. 6