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Recommendation to: 1) Approve a Nine-Month, $713,000 Services Agreement between the City of Alameda and the Housing Authority Concerning Program Administrator Services for the Rent Review, Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance and Authorize the City Manager to Execute the Agreement; and
2) Appropriate $493,000 in General Fund Monies to Fully Fund the Agreement. (City Manager 2110)
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Recommendation to 1) Approve a Nine-Month, $713,000 Services Agreement between the City of Alameda and the Housing Authority concerning Program Administrator Services for the Rent Review, Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance and Authorize the City Manager to Execute the Agreement; and
2) Appropriate $493,000 in General Fund Monies to Fully Fund the Agreement
BACKGROUND
On March 31, 2016, the City’s Rent Review, Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance (Ordinance) will go into effect. The Ordinance anticipates that the City’s new Rent Stabilization Program will be implemented by a Program Administrator. The Housing Authority of the City of Alameda currently staffs the City’s Rent Review Advisory Committee (RRAC) as part of an existing Services Agreement. In addition, Housing Authority staff have been responding to the public inquiries and managing the City’s rent increase and eviction moratorium that has been in place since November 5, 2015. The Housing Authority is well positioned to carry out the duties of the Program Administrator under the Ordinance. Therefore, staff is recommending that the City Council approve the attached Services Agreement (Exhibit 1). The Agreement has a nine-month term and a $713,000 budget.
As part of its adoption process for the Ordinance on March 1, 2016, the City Council appropriated $300,000 to fund a fee study, as part of its consideration of a Program Fee to pay for the Rent Stabilization Program, and to administer the Program through June 30, 2016. Two hundred and twenty thousand dollars ($220,000) of the $300,000 March 1 General Fund appropriation is budgeted for the Services Agreement. The balance of the funds are paying for the fee study, and Finance Department and City Attorney’s Office activities related to implementing the Ordinance through June 30, 2016.
The term of the proposed Services Agreement with the Housing Authority is nine months, until December 31, 2016. To fully fund the Agreement before the Council has made a decision regarding a Program Fee, staff is recommending an additional appropriation of General Fund monies in the amount of $493,000. This is a contingent appropriation and, in the event that a Program Fee is adopted, the appropriation will be disencumbered and returned to the General Fund reserves. The contingent appropriation is necessary to ensure that the nine-month contract can be carried out based on the work scope and $713,000 budget contained in the Services Agreement.
DISCUSSION
Staff has worked extensively with the Housing Authority to draft an Agreement that defines the role of the Program Administrator, meets the needs of both parties and addresses some considerable unknowns, including the number of units that will be impacted by rent increases and/or the number of termination of tenancies, and the staffing levels needed to meet the activity anticipated by the Ordinance. As the City begins to implement the Ordinance, it is likely that the Ordinance and the corresponding regulations may need to be revised. As a result, the Housing Authority has proposed a nine-month Agreement that covers the initial implementation phase. Under the proposed Services Agreement, the City is required to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP), or similar solicitation, during the period to establish a long-term agreement for Program Administrator services. The Housing Authority has agreed that it will respond to the RFP (or other solicitation). The initial shorter term will allow the City and Housing Authority to roll out the Program, identify Program aspects that may need to be changed, better understand staffing and related costs, and address those issues prior to committing to a longer-term structure and agreement.
The Agreement anticipates set-up work such as the creation of procedures, forms, a website and education materials. Housing Authority staff has scheduled weekly educational workshops in conjunction with the City Attorney’s Office, beginning the week of March 22, 2016. The public can sign up at the program website (www.alamedarentprogram.org <http://www.alamedarentprogram.org/>). A monthly report on the key outcomes will be provided to the City. In addition, the Agreement provides a budget and anticipated staffing for the nine months, based on a reimbursement process similar to the existing Services Agreement. The Agreement also sets out the role of the City, including providing legal support and registering the City’s rental units. The Housing Authority will not collect fees or levy fines or penalties.
In addition, the Agreement anticipates that the RRAC meetings will be held at the Independence Plaza (IP) community room (where they have been conducted for the last three months); however, the Agreement also notes that meetings could be held at City facilities such as the Council Chambers. While RRAC meetings were previously held in the Council Chambers, they were not televised. The decision to relocate meetings to the IP community room was made to facilitate the mediation process and provide an informal setting that was more accessible to the mediating parties, particularly the tenants. Given the increased awareness of the RRAC process and the City’s new Ordinance, it may be appropriate to relocate the RRAC meetings back to the Chambers and to televise the meetings. When the RRAC voted to relocate its meetings to IP, it voted to do so on a trial basis. Nothing in the Agreement precludes the meetings from being relocated back to the Council Chambers.
As noted above, at its March 1, 2016 meeting, the City Council appropriated $300,000 from the General Fund to pay for a fee study and administer the Ordinance through June 30, 2016. The fee study anticipates charging a Program Fee to pay for the cost of implementing the Ordinance. In the event that a Program Fee is not adopted, there must be another funding mechanism to pay for the cost of the nine-month Services Agreement. Therefore, staff is proposing that an additional $493,000 in General Fund monies be appropriated. These funds would be used beginning on July 1, 2016, to fund the Services Agreement in the event that a Program Fee is not in place at that time. Any appropriated funds that are not used pursuant to the Services Agreement would be returned to General Fund reserves.
The Housing Authority Board of Commissioners approved the attached Services Agreement at its March 16, 2016 meeting. Given the close working relationship between the City and Housing Authority on a number of housing-related activities, including staffing the RRAC and administering the moratorium on certain rent increase and evictions, staff recommends that the City Council approve the Services Agreement with the Housing Authority to carry out Program Administrator duties under the Ordinance and appropriate the required funds.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
A General Fund appropriation of $493,000 from available fund balance is required to fully fund the nine-month Services Agreement with the Housing Authority to provide Program Administrator duties under the Ordinance. In the event a Program Fee is adopted, a portion, or all, of the $493,000 will be returned to General Fund reserves.
POLICY DOCUMENT/MUNICIPAL CODE CROSS-REFERENCE
The Services Agreement to provide Program Administrator services is consistent with the City’s Rent Review, Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance (Ordinance 3148).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Approval of this Services Agreement and appropriation of $493,000 in General Fund monies to fund a portion of the Agreement are not subject to environmental review because it is a creation of a government funding mechanism or other government fiscal activity which does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact to the environment and hence it is not a project under CEQA. CEQA Guidelines, Section 15378 (b) (4).
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a nine-month, $713,000 Services Agreement between the City of Alameda and the Housing Authority concerning Program Administrator Services for the Rent Review, Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance and authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreement. Appropriate $493,000 in General Fund Monies to Fund a Portion of the Agreement.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
Financial Impact section reviewed by,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Services Agreement