HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9370INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
No. 9370
March 22, 2011
Page 1 of 1
SUBJECT: Transfer in the Amount of $614,972.50 from Fort Worth Housing
Trust Fund to the City's Housing Assistance Program
As part of its annual entitlement from the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), the City is obligated to match 12.5% of the HOME Investment Partnerships
Program (HOME) grant funds drawn from its HOME Treasury Account in any given year. The
City's match liability must be satisfied annually from non - federal sources used for qualified
housing projects, such as donated materials, cash donations, in -kind contributions, and sweat
equity.
The City anticipates drawing down $4,919,780.00 in HOME funds for the current program year.
Therefore, its current match obligation is $614,972.50. At this time, the City contractually requires
its partner agencies such as Community Housing Development Organizations to obtain and
report all sources of match which the City in turn reports to HUD. The reporting requirements
include furnishing adequate documentation of the reported match to the City.
On June 2, 2010, the City received a finding from HUD regarding the sufficiency of its
documentation of match. Specifically, HUD deemed insufficient the documentation received
from partner agencies in regard to the required match. Therefore, the City must find other non-
federal sources for use as match that can be documented so as to be acceptable to HUD.
In order to satisfy the City's future match obligations and to simplify the documentation of eligible
forms of match, staff proposes using City general funds directly in HOME funded projects and
programs. In order to meet the current year's match requirements and begin operating under this
proposed change in policy, staff will be requesting that $614,972.50 of the City's general fund
portion of its Fort Worth Housing Trust Fund be used for the City's Housing Assistance Program
(HAP) or other HOME - eligible projects. The HAP program provides down payment and closing
cost assistance of up to $14,999.00 to eligible homebuyers citywide. This will satisfy the City's
match obligation for the FY 10 -11 HUD entitlement. For future years, staff will recommend that
the match requirement be included in the Housing and Economic Development Department's
budget.
If you have any questions pertaining to this Informal Report please contact Jay Chapa, Housing
and Economic Development Department Director at 817 - 392 -5804.
om Higgins
Interim City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER
FORT WORTH, TEXAS