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Approve Amending the HOME Investment Partnership American Rescue Plan Allocation Plan
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to request that the Town Council approve a proposed amendment to the HOME Investment Partnership American Rescue Plan (ARP) Allocation Plan approved by Council on February 21, 2023 <https://carrboro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6031412&GUID=05F24DB6-7FD4-426D-8438-0D12380E1835&Options=&Search=>. HUD requires one modification to the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan for approval. This amendment is designed to bring the approved plan in alignment with HUD requirements.
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Department
DEPARTMENT: Housing and Community Services
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Contact
CONTACT INFORMATION: Anne-Marie Vanaman, Interim Director, 919-918-7321 amvanaman@carrboronc.gov <mailto:amvanaman@carrboronc.gov>
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Council Direction
COUNCIL DIRECTION:
X Race/Equity __ Climate X Comprehensive Plan ____Other
Council Direction Statement
Race/Equity: A full assessment of the Affordable Housing Special Revenue Fund using the Racial Equity Assessment Lens has been completed and reviewed by the Racial Equity Commission. A summary of this assessment can be found in Attachment B.
Comprehensive Plan: Chapter 3. Affordable Housing. Strategy 2.1: Continue to support rental housing development through the Affordable Housing Fund and leveraging other resources.
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Information
INFORMATION: HOME-ARP funding must be used for projects that serve four Qualifying Populations:
• Homeless;
• At-risk of homelessness;
• Fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking;
• Other populations where providing supportive services or assistance would prevent homelessness or housing instability.
The Plan approved by all jurisdictions in Orange County in February included a preference to serve homeless households. This would be accomplished by prioritizing projects that use Coordinated Entry (CE) to identify tenants for units developed using HOME-ARP funds. Coordinated Entry is the method the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness Continuum of Care (CoC) uses for prioritizing referral services.
Upon reviewing the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan, HUD staff notified Orange County, that HUD would not approve the Plan because Coordinated Entry is not an approved prioritization method for Affordable Rental Development projects funded by HOME-ARP because it does not allow equal access to all four qualifying populations who must be served.
The Consortium, the body responsible for making recommendations for HOME and HOME-ARP funding, voted at their May 4, 2023 meeting to recommend removing the preference to serve households experiencing homelessness and prioritization of projects that use Coordinated Entry to identify tenants for units developed using HOME-ARP funds.
• Individual projects may still accept referrals through Coordinated Entry if they still provide equal opportunity for all qualifying populations to apply for residency through other means.
• Since the units developed with HOME-ARP funding must serve households falling in at least one of the four qualifying populations, the Consortium’s interest of reaching households experiencing homelessness or housing instability will still be met.
• The amendment to the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan was approved by Chapel Hill on May 24th, Orange County on June 6th, and Hillsborough on June 12th.
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Fiscal and Staff Impact
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact with approving the proposed amendment to the plan.
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Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION: The Town Manager recommends that the Town Council consider amending the HOME Investment Partnership American Rescue Plan Allocation Plan. A resolution is provided as Attachment A.
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