MEMORANDUM

To:     Mayor Rundle, Lawrence City Commissioners Highberger, Dunfield, Hack, and Schauner

From: Barbara Carswell, Chair, Housing Trust Fund Board

Date: January 11, 2005

I should like to represent the Board members of the Housing Trust Fund Board in addressing the Commission at the January 18^th meeting. 

The stated purpose of the Housing Trust Fund is “to encourage and support the acquisition, rehabilitation and development of affordable housing and/or emergency shelter and supportive services necessary to maintain independent living with dignity in our community.”  The Housing Trust Fund initiated the first request for funding proposals over two years ago. Six projects were funded by the allocation of $66,000.  It was the consensus of the Board that this funding was nominally successful but did not make any significant impact on housing affordability issues facing Lawrence.  No additional funding has taken place since that time.  The current balance of the fund is approximately $560,000. 

We have convened several working sessions which looked at Housing Trust models nationally and in August 2004 addressed the Commission with the recommendation that either a permanent funding source be established [suggested sources of funding were given] to enable significant and meaningful project funding, or that, if a funding source could not be established in the current economic climate, that projects that had potential for meaningful impact be encouraged by allocating all of the Fund’s monies in a RFP call.  The Commission declined that recommendation, suggesting that a housing affordability task force could be established to identify more succinctly the critical housing issues and that the findings of such a task force would be instrumental in driving the direction and strategy of HTF funding.

The Housing Trust Board finds itself at an impasse.  Staff has received queries about availability of funds for various housing and homeless related projects. At the most recent Board meeting, however, discussions and various motions for action yielded no consensus result or recommendation. There is a majority feeling that this impasse derives from an inability to interpret clearly and coherently the direction from the Commission.  This negates and does great disservice to the diligence and sense of responsibility that Board members bring to their task of serving as an Advisory body to the City Commission on matters relating to Lawrence’s implementation of Housing Trust purpose. 

We are asking for guidance.  We would like Commissioners to consider the various options for action that have surfaced and give a clear indication of strategies for actions that they favor.  I am attaching five possible actions that we might recommend and ask for specific feedback.  We will of course consider and analyze any additional action that the Commission might suggest.

Respectfully,

Barbara Carswell

1. Take no action: temporarily retire the Board and make the decision not to fund any proposal until a housing affordability task force has been appointed and convened and presents a strategic positioning document.  At that time the Commission will reconvene the HTF Board, using the positioning document as clear directive for action.

2. Initiate a second round of RFPs to allocate the earnings on principal (approximately $60,000).  We anticipate that this will have a similar non-impacting result to the initial funding.  Benefit from this course of action would be somewhat arbitrary and nothing suggests that this same level of funding would yield any differing results.

3. Initiate a second round of RFPs to allocate $150,000, holding all additional principal in reserve until a housing affordability task-force has been appointed and convened and presents a strategic positioning document.  Increasing the amount of funding would slightly increase the possibility of having proposals with significant impact.

4. Initiate a second round of RFPs to allocate $300,000, holding all additional principal in reserve until a housing affordability task force has been appointed and convened and presents a strategic positioning document.   Again, increasing funding to this level could generate more meaningful impact in resulting proposals.

5. Initiate a second round of RFPs with the ability to allocate all Housing Trust monies.  Allocating all funds at this time would give maximum opportunity for impact in addressing affordability issues.  If a housing affordability task force is appointed and presents a strategic positioning document, this option will require a permanent funding source to support the identified strategy.