HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-34 Affordable Housing TRT Fund
RESOLUTION NO. 2008- ~LL
A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR
ADMINISTRATION OF THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND
RECITALS:
A. WHEREAS, the City of Ashland City Council approved the establishment
of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (Ordinance ~ (0(0), to keep our
community diverse by facilitating the production and preservation of
affordable housing throughout Ashland; and
B WHEREAS, The policies and procedures for administration of the
Affordable Housing Trust Fund establish eligible uses, eligible applicants,
the method by which funds are awarded, and selection criteria; and
C. WHEREAS, the City Council understands the changing nature of the
housing market and corresponding housing needs, and therefore has
established the policies and procedures for administering the Ashland
Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) to remain flexible to respond to changing
market conditions and opportunities; now therefore
THE CITY OF ASHLAND RESOLVES AS FOllOWS:
SECTION 1. Purpose
1.1 The purpose of the City of Ashland's Affordable Housing Trust
Fund (AHTF) is to establish a dedicated source of revenue to
provide ongoing funding for housing projects or programs that
address the housing needs of Ashland residents. To this end the
AHTF is established to address the primary purpose of encouraging
the creation of housing for homeownership or rent, at a cost that
will enable low and moderate income families to afford quality
housing while paying no more than thirty per cent of gross
household income on housing.
1.2 To promote the rehabilitation, preservation and production of
quality, well designed rental and ownership housing the AHTF will
award funds to community development partners that are furthering
the AHTF mission. It is expecting that the local contributions made
through Ashland's Affordable Housing Trust Fund will assist in
maximizing the leveraging of State and Federal funds, as well as
encourage private sector investment in affordable housing.
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1.3 Understanding the high cost of housing regionally, it is evident that
low and moderate income households are not being served by the
housing market. To address the disparity between the cost of
housing and the means of resident households to afford housing,
the Affordable Housing Trust Fund aims to provide direct financial
support to projects that retain or increase the supply of needed
housing for households earning less than 120%) the Area Median
Income as defined by HUD.
1.4 The Administrative Procedures associated with the Affordable
Housing Trust Fund, including fund administration, determination of
eligible applicants, eligible uses and activities, award preferences,
eligibility criteria, award process, and selection criteria are hereby
established.
Section 2. Eligible Applicants
2.1 The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is structured to ensure that
many different types of organizations are eligible to receive
financing.
2.2 Eligible applicants include governmental subdivisions, community
development corporations, local housing authorities, community
action agencies, community-based or neighborhood-based non-
profit housing organizations, other non-profit organizations, for-
profit entities, and private employers.
Section 3. Eligible Uses and Activities
3.1 Affordable Housing Trust Funds shall support the creation or
preservation of housing that is affordable to households with
incomes that do not exceed 1200/0 of the area median income, as
defined by HUD for the Medford-Ashland metropolitan service area.
3.2 Affordable Housing Trust Funds will be focused on those activities
that create, preserve or acquire housing within the Ashland Urban
Growth Boundary.
3.3 Housing developments financed by the Affordable Housing Trust
Fund (AHTF) which receive subsidy, financing, tax credits or other
assistance under a State or Federal housing program, may contain
market rate units insofar as permissible under those programs
and/or to the extent that they are necessary to support the creation
of and/or on-going sustainability for the affordable housing units in
the development. However, Affordable Housing Trust Funds may
not be used to support such market rate units.
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3.4 Affordable housing units developed utilizing subsidy from the
Affordable Housing Trust Fund shall comply with the income, rent
and purchase housing cost limits established by Resolution 2006-
13, as amended, and as restricted by a covenant prepared by the
City of Ashland.
3.5 The Affordable Housing Trust Funds can be provided as either a
grant or a loan depending on the project or program receiving
funding. To retain a significant degree of flexibility the eligible uses
have a broad application including the following:
3.5.a Acquisition and Construction of new affordable housing.
Eligible acquisition and construction costs include
reasonable costs associated with building or land purchase,
including but not limited to:
· Purchase price
· Option costs
· Financing fees
· Appraisal costs
· Closing costs
· Interest
· I nspection fees
· Title insurance
· Relocation costs
· Architectural/engineering fees
· Construction costs
3.5.b Conservation of energy through the use of "green"
technologies provided that the benefits of the energy savings
is passed on in the form of reduced costs to the qualified
occupants of the affordable housing.
3.5.c Land Banking: the purchase of land to be dedicated toward
the development of affordable housing in the near or long
term.
3.5.d Predevelopment activities undertaken by a community
development organization in support of the development of
affordable housing including planning, architectural
services, engineering services, landscape design, legal
services, surveys, appraisals, site clearance and demolition,
environmental clearance, permit application fees and system
development charges.
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3.5.e Bridge loans to assist in development of low-income
housing (for rental or owner occupancy). Bridge loans are
intended to provide funding to permit housing projects to
proceed in advance of the availability of permanent project
funding. Bridge loan funding is available for acquisition or
construction activities.
3.5f Capacity Building for non-profit affordable housing
providers in the form of direct grant awards to fund
administration of an affordable housing project or program.
3.5.g Rehabilitation and Emergency Repairs as part of an
established program to secure units as affordable or to
provide direct benefits to existing low-moderate income
households. Eligible rehabilitation and emergency repair
costs include but are not limited to:
· Architectural/engineering fees
· Construction costs
· Relocation costs
· Hazardous materials abatement including lead based
paint noticing consistent with The Federal Lead Safe
Housing Regulations HUD requirements at 24 CFR
935
3.5.h Direct benefits to low-moderate income households through
an established program including down payment assistance,
rental assistance, mortgage foreclosure prevention,
emergency housing vouchers, homeownership training,
renter education, or other programs intended to increase
housing opportunities for Ashland's low-moderate income
residents.
3.5.i Transitional and Emergency Housing for homeless
individuals and families through an established program to
move people toward self-sufficiency.
3.5.j Other uses as deemed appropriate by the Ashland City
Council as supporting the development or preservation of
affordable housing within the City of Ashland.
Section 4. Preferences
4.1 The general criteria of selection are found in Section 8 and may be
modified through the annual Request for Proposals, however the
following preferences are provided as general guidance for future
applicants for Affordable Housing Trust Funds.
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4.1.a Developments that produce "new" affordable housing units.
New affordable housing units shall include housing units
constructed where none had existed previously, abandoned
or fire-damaged residential units to be returned to residential
use, and non-residential or non-residentially-zoned property
converted to residential use. Any designated new affordable
housing units shall be secured as affordable through
recorded Resale Restriction Covenants.
4.1.b Developments that provide new affordability. New
affordability refers to existing housing where a new level of
affordability is provided that does not currently exist. This
could occur in rental or ownership housing where the
number of affordable units is increased; where a portion of
existing units will be made affordable to households at
income levels substantially lower than the units previously
served; or where the term of affordability on the units will be
extended for a period beyond thirty (30) years.
4.1.c Developments of housing utilizing the Land Trust model to
secure property and perpetual affordability.
4.1.d Developments that include joint ventures between multiple
non-profit developers and or for-profit developers, working in
partnership, to complete an affordable housing project
4.1.e Developments that include a joint venture between service
providers and non-profit affordable housing developers to
create projects that contain additional benefits to low income
individuals in the development of the project, or additional
services for the residents upon completion.
4.1.f Developments that incorporate the use of "green" building
materials, use of energy-efficient appliances, low-water use
landscaping, and incorporation of building design and
operational factors that minimize energy use and resource
consumption as well as avoid indoor health impacts to
achieve Earth Advantage Certification.
4.1.g Developments that include affordable units for the disabled
and the homeless.
4.1.h Projects that propose long term affordability.
4.1.i Projects that are sponsored by non-profit organizations.
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4.1.j Projects that use private funding sources and State funding
sources to leverage the least amount of Ashland's Affordable
Housing Trust Funds.
Section 5. Fund Administration
The Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) originated through the direction of the
Ashland City Council and Ashland Housing Commission.
5.1 The City of Ashland acts as fiduciary agent and administrator of the
funds.
5.2 Funds dedicated to the Ashland Housing Trust Fund shall be
exclusively reserved to support the eligible uses activities identified in
Section 3, and shall not be used for the general operation of the City.
5.3 The City of Ashland shall issue a request for proposals (RFP) to
announce the availability of funds. The Affordable Housing Trust
Fund RFP issuance shall be timed to run concurrent with the
Community Development Block Grant Program award process..
5.4 The City may issue a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) to
specifically target up to 10% in available Affordable Housing Trust
Funds to undertake eligible uses and activities identified in Section 3.
5.5 The City of Ashland Housing Commission, and City Staff as
designated by the Director of Community Development, shall review
applications for Affordable Housing Trust Funds to determine project
eligibility and evaluate the applications based on the selection criteria
provided in the issued Request for Proposals. The Housing
Commission, and City Staff, shall provide recommendations to the
City Council who shall make final award decisions.
5.6 The City aims to administer the Affordable Housing Trust Fund in a
manner consistent with other affordable housing programs such as
the Ashland Community Development Block Grant Program. The
implementation of a comparable application, application evaluation,
and approval process Will provide housing developers with a
consistent and coherent method for securing housing funds from the
City. Coordination of the grant allocation process with other local and
state funding application timelines, will help ensure that AHTF funds
are best applied to leverage additional resources in support of the
housing projects.
5.7 Affordable Housing Trust Funds will be allocated in a manner
consistent with the threshold criteria provided Section 8, and
consistent with State and Local Public Contracting law.
Section 6. Match Requirements
6.1 The Ashland Housing Trust Fund is intended to support the
development of needed housing, but is not intended to provide the
sole source of funding for any development project or housing
program. To ensure that affordable housing providers, and
organizations that assist individuals and families in obtaining
needed housing, do not rely exclusively on AHTF to support their
activities, it has been determined that;
6.2 The Affordable Housing Trust Fund contribution shall not exceed
more than 500/0 of the total project, or program, cost. Required
Match can be met utilizing Community Development Block Grants,
State or Federal Funding, direct contribution from the applicant,
private donations, and the contribution of land, materials or labor to
the project.
6.2.a In the case that land previously owned by the applicant is
considered as required match, the value of the land shall be
determined by a City approved certified appraisal completed
by the applicant, unless otherwise directed in Oregon
Revised Statute or City Municipal Code.
6.2.b The valuation of land, and available equity to be considered
as matching funds, shall be verified by the City prior to the
disbursement of an AHTF grant when its value is considered
as required matching funds.
6.2.c Donated materials and labor which are proposed as required
match through the development of a project shall have their
value estimated at the time of application. The actual value
of these contributions is subject to verification by the City at
completion of ~he project.
6.2.d Award recipients shall provide verifiable accounting for
donated labor and materials, when such was necessary to
satisfy the AHTF match requirements.
6.3
A recipient of an AHTF grant that fails to verify the match
requirements have been satisfied at the conclusion of a project
would be considered cause for the City to require full or partial
repayment of any AHTF grants awarded to a project.
Section 7 - Allocation of Funds
The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is structured to allow the flexibility for the
City, and housing providers, to be responsive to opportunities that arise that
require an immediate expenditure of a relatively small amount of funds to secure
property, or financing, as well as to ensure the majority of Affordable Housing
Trust Funds are allocated through a annual competitive award process.
Establishment of two distinct and separate award processes is intended to
provide for both consistency and flexibility. The issuance of a Request for
Proposals (RFP) which will allocate 900/0 of the available allocation of Affordable
Housing Trust Funds will be coordinated with other local and State funding cycles
to allow applicants to best structure their project financing. Additionally a Notice
of Funding Availability (NOFA) may be announced, as funds permit, to allocate
up to 100/0 of the annual funding available. A NOFA is primarily intended to be
responsive to immediate needs for a limited grant or loan if needed for
predevelopment activities which will further the mission of the AHTF.
The distribution of any and all AHTF funds through Competitive or Non-
Competitive awards as described in Sections 7.1 and 7.2, will be in accordance
with State and Local Public Contracting laws.
7.1. Competitive Awards - Request for Proposals (RFP)
The City of Ashland has a limited amount of Affordable Housing
Trust Funds to use each year in compari~on to the scope of the
housing needs within.the community. As a result, it is essential that
the funds are used to meet the City's priorities in an efficient and
cost-effective manner. To this end a competitive award process
has been established and a set of award criteria shall be developed
to evaluate proposals received through a Request for Proposals
(RFP) process in terms of how they address the specific priorities
outlined in the annual RFP.
The steps for making the competitive grant awards or loans is
outlined below.
7.1 a. The City of Ashland may issue a Request for Proposals on an
annual or intermittent basis depending on availability of funds,
providing applicants with a minimum of 45 days to respond to the
request.
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7.1 b City Staff shall assess the project proposals to determine if the
eligibility criteria are met and shall develop a recommendation to
provide to the Ashland Housing Commission and the City Council.
7.1 c The Ashland Housing Commission will provide applicants the
opportunity to make a presentation on their project proposal and
provide community members the opportunity to comment by
holding a public meeting.
7.1 d The Ashland Housing Commission will develop a grant award
recommendation to the City Council using the AHTF criteria to
determine which projects best meet the City's spending priorities.
Each application will be rated on a numeric scale as established in
the annual RFP for each criterion of selection (Section 8).
7.1 e The Ashland City Council shall make a final decision on the award
of Affordable Housing Trust Funds.
7.1 f The City of Ashland shall prepare an agreement between the City
and the award recipient. The Agreement shall outline the conditions
of award and shall be executed prior to the disbursement of any
Affordable Housing Trust Funds.
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7.2. Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
Upon electing to initiate a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) the
City shall issue a notice of funding availability through publication in
the Ashland Daily Tidings and on the City's Website providing 30
days for eligible applicants to submit qualifications for funding. The
City shall review all applications received to determine if the
applications meet the City's threshold criteria. If the criteria are met
then the funds are awarded to, or reserved for, the applicant. Funds
available through the NOFA process are awarded on a first come,
first served basis, until reaching the annual funding cap. A reserve
award granted to an applicant may be rescinded by the City if the
applicant does not undertake the activities identified in response to
the NOFA in advance of the City's issuance of another RFP or
NOFA.
7.2.a On an annual basis the City shall determine the amount of funds
available to be distributed through a NOFA procedure
7.2.b In no case shall the amount disbursed through the non-competitive
process exceed 100/0 of the annual AHTF revenue in a given
program year.
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7.2.c The City of Ashland recognizes that the nature of affordable
housing development acquisition of property is often opportunity
dependant. Further many nonprofit housing developers lack the
resources to undertake feasibility studies, due diligence
inspections, preliminary drawings and other activities required to
evaluate potential projects as well as apply for project financing.
7.2.d To enable non-profit organizations, community development
organizations, the Housing Authority of Jackson County, and the
City of Ashland, to be responsive to opportunities outside of the
annual Request for Proposals timeline, the City may reserve a
portion of Affordable Housing Trust Funds to support pre-
development activities.
7.2.d.1 Predevelopment activities undertaken by a community
development organization in support of the development of
affordable housing including planning, architectural
services, engineering services, landscape design, legal
services, surveys, appraisals, site clearance and demolition,
environmental clearance, and payment of permit application
fees may be supported through a non-competitive award of a
predevelopment grant that may be required to convert to a
loan if the project receives full funding.
7.2.d.2 For-profit developers are not eligible to apply for Ashland's
Affordable Housing Trust Funds to assist with
predevelopment costs.
7.2.e The City of Ashland is eligible to utilize the funds reserved for the
NOF A process to conduct eligible activities as described in Section
3.
7.2.f The City may fund through a NOFA process an ongoing down-
payment assistance program, rental assistance program, education
program, rehabilitation program, or other programs intended to .
increase housing opportunities for Ashland's low-moderate income
residents which are administered by a non-profit or governmental
organization.
Section 8 AHTF Grant or Loan Award Threshold and Selection Criteria
8.01 The project is considered an eligible use or activity under Section 3,
and benefits households earning less than 120% the Area Median
Income.
(threshold verification)
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8.02 If the project is related to the provision of technical assistance to
affordable housing providers, the use of Ashland Housing Trust
Funds functions to increase the capacity of the organization to
specifically address the mission of the AHTF.
(threshold verification).
8.03 Affordable Housing Trust funds shall be limited to the minimum
amount necessary to complete the project. The lower the
percentage of AHTF funds requested, relative to the full project
costs, the higher ranking the project shall be given.
8.04 The project addresses the unmet housing needs as identified in the
Ashland Housing Needs analysis or Consolidated Plan.
8.05 The lower the income level that is targeted for the benefiting
households, the higher the ranking the project shall be given.
8.06 The project provides new affordable housing, or new affordability,
through retention or rehabilitation of existing housing, within the
City. The greater the number of units provided, the higher the
ranking the project shall be given.
8.07 The project retains the affordable housing units as affordable. The
longer period of time the units remain affordable, the higher ranking
the project shall be given.
8.08 The project addresses energy conservation through the integration
of green building technologies in new construction, or achieves
greater energy efficiency through rehabilitation of existing housing.
8.09 The project maximizes partnerships in the community (volunteers,
in-kind contributions, cash contributions, multiple organizations
involved, etc.).
8.10 The project utilizes already existing resources in effective and
innovative ways. The project shall not duplicate service provided
by another organization.
8.11 The agency submitting the proposal has the capacity to carry out
the project and has had demonstrated successes completing
projects of similar scope.
8.12 The budget and time line are thorough and realistic.
8.13 The project is ready for implementation.
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8.14 If the project includes the acquisition of property, the identified
property is currently available for acquisition and the applicant has
secured either a purchase option or letter of interest from the seller.
If the applicant is also applying for federal funding (Community
Development Block Grants or HOME) they should carefully review
procurement requirements and limitations before obtaining a
purchase option.
8.15 That relocation of existing residents will be minimized, and when
necessary the applicant has included accurate relocation
assistance costs as part of the project pro forma.
8.16 The proposal demonstrates that Ashland Housing Trust Funds are
the most appropriate funding source, and necessary, for the
project.
8.17 Additional selection criteria may be developed and included in the
annual RFP to best direct Affordable Housing Trust Funds toward
an identified priority need. Numeric Rankings for each of the
selection criteria shall be incorporated into the annual RFP.
his resolution was duly PASSED and ADOPTED this /~
, 2008, and takes effect upon signing by the Mayor.
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Barbara Christensen, City Recorder
SIGNED and APPROVED this 7.3 day of ~8.
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