City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: APRIL 14, 2015
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, ACTING CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Public Hearing and Consideration of the Draft Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and FY 2016 Action Plan for Housing and Community Development for Submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development (HUD).
BODY
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ISSUE: Public Hearing and Consideration of the Draft Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and FY 2016 Action Plan for Housing and Community Development for Submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development (HUD)
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
1. Conduct a public hearing on the Draft FY 2016-2020 Five-Year Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development (Citizen Summary of this Plan is Attachment 1), which includes the One-Year Action Plan containing the City's application for City Fiscal Year 2016 funding for $742,789 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) monies and $357,2581 in Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) monies (Attachment 2 reflects planned CDBG and HOME expenditures); and
2. Approve the FY 2016-2020 Five-Year Consolidated Plan and FY 2016 One-Year Action Plan for Housing and Community Development for final Council consideration, and authorize staff to make any necessary technical corrections to the Plans; and
3. Authorize the Active City Manager to execute all necessary documents.
DISCUSSION: The City of Alexandria's Draft Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development has been prepared in accordance with regulations set forth by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These regulations require that participants in certain HUD programs including, but not limited to, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Programs, develop and submit a five-year strategic plan for housing and community development.
The Draft Consolidated Plan examines the City's overall needs for affordable housing, shelters and services for the homeless, housing for persons with special needs, and community and economic development. The Plan describes the City's proposed strategy for addressing these needs during Fiscal Years 2016-2020 and includes a One-Year Action Plan with specific objectives to be undertaken or accomplished during the City's Fiscal Year 2016, and is consistent with ongoing program activities as well as core services included in the City Manager's Proposed FY 2016 Budget.
BACKGROUND: The Office of Housing prepares the information included in the Consolidated Plan in consultation with the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), the City Finance Department, including Real Estate Assessments, the Planning Department, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and numerous area agencies and nonprofit organizations that provide services for very low, low and moderate income persons. HUD provides the underlying data upon which the City reports from census data it compiles and aggregates. These data may vary slightly from information the City tracks from the census.
For the first time, in 2015 submission of the Consolidated Plan and the Action Plan will be fully online as part of HUD's efforts to better monitor and track local use of federal funds to meet various national objectives. The Citizen Summary has been prepared to provide highlights of planned federally funded program activities, as well as to demonstrate the City's anticipated initiatives to leverage local, state, federal and private resources to support programs that serve and empower target populations, including very low, low and moderate income persons in the Alexandria community, as reported in the Plans to be submitted online to HUD by mid-May 2015. As reported in the Summary, a number of Plans adopted by City Council (e.g., Housing Master Plan, ARHA Strategic Plan, Aging Plan, Child and Youth Master Plan) since the last Five Year Consolidated Plan submission, provide an excellent roadmap of the activities, services and resources the City will be dedicating for various objectives of interest to HUD.
As required by HUD, the Draft Plan was released on April 1 for a 30-day public comment period, which will end on May 1 The Draft One-Year Action Plan also contains the City's applications for $742,789 in CDBG funds and $357,258 in HOME Program funds. The majority of CDBG funds ($458,141) are proposed for the use of the Home Rehabilitation Loan Program and the majority of HOME funds ($319,845) are proposed for the use of the Housing Opportunities Fund program. The remaining use of the CDBG and HOME funds is described on page 7 of the Citizen Summary and Attachment 2, which reflects planned CDBG and HOME expenditures.
Release of Alexandria's Draft Plans are announced by notices placed in local and national media. The Draft Citizen Summary of the Consolidated Plan was distributed to a host of interested parties on April 1 via email and mail. This document is a concise summary of the objectives and outcomes in the FY 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development. Both the Draft Citizen Summary and the complete Draft Consolidated Plan are posted on the City's website at www.alexandriva.gov/Housing, and hard copies are being distributed upon request to the Office of Housing. Comments from the public are being solicited at two public hearings: one to be held as part of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee's April 6 meeting, and another proposed to be held as part of City Council's public hearing on April 18. Comments may also be submitted directly, or online, to the Office of Housing.
HUD also requires that an Analysis of Impediments (AI) that may affect the City's ability to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing accompany the Five Year Plan. The AI, prepared by Housing's Landlord Tenant Division, is attached for Council's information (Attachment 3).
FISCAL IMPACT: Upon its approval of the Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development, HUD will appropriate a total of $1,100,047 in new federal funding to the City for FY 2016, including $742,789 in CDBG funds and $319,845 in HOME Program funds.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 Citizen Summary of the Draft FY 2016-2020 Five-Year Consolidated Plan for
Housing and Community Development and Draft FY 2016 One-Year Action
Plan
Attachment 2 Proposed CDBG and HOME Budget Expenditures
Attachment 3 Analysis of Impediments (information item)
STAFF:
Helen McIlvaine, Acting Director, Office of Housing
Eric Keeler, Program Administration Division Chief, Office of Housing
Melodie Seau, Landlord Tenant Division Chief, Office of Housing
Lucinda Metcalf, Housing Analyst, Office of Housing