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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.2 - 3473 City of Dublin Home Rehabilitation Grant Pr Page 1 of 3 STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL DATE: November 17, 2020 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Linda Smith, City Manager SUBJECT: City of Dublin Home Rehabilitation Program Prepared by: Kristie Wheeler, Assistant Community Development Director EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City Council will receive a report on a proposed City of Dublin Home Rehabilitation Grant Program and provide direction. The proposed program would include grants to assist low-income households maintain their homes in a safe, livable condition and to prevent neighborhood blight. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Receive the report and direct Staff to prepare a Home Rehabilitation Program for consideration by the City Council. FINANCIAL IMPACT: If the City Council provides direction to implement the proposed Home Rehabilitation Grant Program, Staff recommends allocating $25,000 from the City’s Affordable Housing Fund to fund the program. DESCRIPTION: Minor home rehabilitation grants and home improvement loan assistance are available to low-income households through existing Alameda County programs. However, there are instances where a homeowner may not be eligible for or able to take advantage of a County program. To fill this gap, Staff is proposing a Dublin-based Home Rehabilitation Grant Program for low-income homeowners in Dublin. Existing County Programs The following provides a summary of existing Alameda County home rehabilitation programs available to Dublin residents: • Alameda County Healthy Homes Department Minor Home Rehabilitation Program: This program provides grants of up to $3,000 to low-income homeowners for minor plumbing, carpentry, and electrical repairs and can be used for railings, grab bars, toilets, water heaters, doors, locks, and more. Page 2 of 3 Households earning up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI) are eligible and grants are available once every two years. • Renew Alameda County (AC): Renew AC is a home improvement loan assistance program for low-income homeowners throughout the County. Renew AC aims to help keep existing homeowners in their homes and maintain existing housing stock in a safe, livable condition. To qualify, applicants must own and live in an insured Alameda County home, have an annual income of no more than 80 percent AMI, have no more than $150,000 in assets, have a loan to value of no more than 90 percent including the Renew AC loan, and have only one existing lien on the home. Renew AC is an Alameda County Housing and Community Development Department program that is administered by Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley, and funded by Alameda County taxpayers who approved the Measure A1 Housing Bond in November 2016. Proposed Dublin Home Rehabilitation Grant Program The goal of the proposed program is to provide supplemental assistance to homeowners that may have received a grant or loan through the County’s programs and need additional funding assistance or were turned down because they were not able to meet all of the County’s criteria. It is not Staff’s intent to provide a program in- lieu of the County’s programs but in addition to it for special circumstances. To be eligible for the proposed program, the following criteria would need to be met: • Applicant’s household income could not exceed 80 percent AMI; and • Applicant would be required to live in and hold title to a home in Dublin; and • Applicant has applied for assistance through the County and either requires additional assistance or has been turned down. The following is an overview of the proposed rehabilitation grant program: • Rehabilitation Grants: This program could provide grants of up to $5,000 to eligible low-income homeowners to increase the safety and energy efficiency of their homes, construct accessibility improvements, and/or to rehabilitate and improve electrical, plumbing, roofing, etc. to ensure safe and livable conditions.. • Exterior Clean-Up/Paint Grants: This program could provide grants of up to $5,000 to eligible low-income homeowners to improve the exterior appearance and quality of their homes and prevent neighborhood blight such as exterior paint or overgrown vegetation removal. Funding The proposed Home Rehabilitation Grant Program could be funded by the General Fund, Affordable Housing Fund, or possibly by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) capital funds. The City’s Affordable Housing Fund (also known as the Inclusionary Zoning In-Lieu Fee Fund) accounts for money to be used by the City for the purpose of providing very-low-, low-, and moderate-income ownership or rental housing in Dublin. The City Council could find that the proposed Home Rehabilitation Grant Program is consistent with the designated purpose of the Affordable Housing Fund. Repair of housing owned by low Page 3 of 3 income residents has widely been found to be an important part of preserving affordable housing stock and, therefore, helping with the overall supply. Other cities, including Livermore and Pleasanton, use their affordable housing funds for home repair programs. Dublin receives CDBG funds through the Urban County Program administered by Alameda County. The Urban County Program includes an opportunity to apply annually for funds for various capital projects. These funds earmarked for capital projects could be a funding source for Dublin’s Home Rehabilitation Grant Program in future years. However, these capital funds are subject to change and may not be available every year. Additionally, the rules and regulations that come with this funding make it inefficient to use in small increments, require environmental clearance for construction projects of any size, trigger Davis-Bacon wages, and require extensive documentation and compliance with many other federal standards. A program using these funds would likely take additional time to establish and necessitate professional technical assistance with the program administration at a cost of 20-30 percent of the grant amount. Given the limited scope of the proposed program, the assistance already provided by the County, and the complications and uncertainty associated with the CDBG capital funds, Staff recommends an annual allocation of $25,000 from the City’s Affordable Housing Fund for the proposed program. Staff is seeking City Council direction on the proposed Home Rehabilitation Grant Program concept, and concurrence with the types of grants, grant amounts, and funding source. If the City Council would like to pursue this program, Staff will prepare guidelines for the program and return for formal adoption. STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE: None. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: None. ATTACHMENTS: None. Dublin Home Rehabilitation Program City Council Meeting November 17, 2020 Background •Minor home rehabilitation grants and loans are available to low-income households through existing Alameda County programs –Alameda County Healthy Homes –Renew AC •Occasionally homeowners may not be eligible for or able to take advantage of County programs •Dublin Home Rehabilitation Program is proposed to fill gap Proposed Home Rehabilitation Program •Goal of program is to provide supplemental assistance •To be eligible: –Applicant’s household income does not exceed 80 percent AMI –Applicant lives in and holds title to home in Dublin –Applicant has applied for assistance through County and either requires additional funding or has been turned down Proposed Home Rehabilitation Program •Rehabilitation Grants: Grants of up to $5,000 to increase safety and energy efficiency, construct accessibility improvements, and/or rehabilitate and improve electrical, plumbing, roofing, etc. to ensure safe and livable conditions •Exterior Clean-Up/Paint Grants: Grants of up to $5,000 to improve the exterior appearance through painting or removing overgrown vegetation to help prevent neighborhood blight Proposed Home Rehabilitation Program •Program could be funded by General Fund, Affordable Housing Fund, or possibly by CDBG capital funds •Staff recommends an annual allocation of $25,000 from Affordable Housing Fund •Repair of housing owned by low-income residents is important part of preserving affordable housing stock and helping supply Next Steps •Staff is seeking City Council direction on proposed program and concurrence with types of grants, grant amounts, and funding source •If City Council would like to pursue program, Staff will prepare guidelines and return for formal adoption Questions