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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg 2020-04-06 Item 5A - Resolution - Utilize Funds Collected Under Provisions of WA State House Bill 1406 and Ordinance #2613COUNCIL AGENDA SYNOPSIS Initials Meeting Date Prepared by Mayor's review Council review 03/23/20 MS 04/06/20 MS ITEM INFORMATION ITEMNO. 5.A. STAFF SPONSOR: MEREDITH SAMPSON ORIGINAL AGENDA DATE: 03/23/20 AGENDA ITEM TITLE HB 1406 Revenue Spending Options CATEGORY ® Discussion Mtg Date 03123120 ❑ Motion Mtg Date ® Resolution Mtg Date 04106120 ❑ Ordinance Mtg Date ❑ Bid Award Mtg Date ❑ Public Hearing Mtg Date ❑Other Mtg Date SPONSOR ❑Council ❑Mayor ❑HR ®DCD ❑Finance ❑Fire ❑'IS ❑P&R ❑Police ❑PTr ❑Court SPONSOR'S Tukwila passed Resolution No. 1966 and Ordinance No. 2316 with an effective date of SUMMARY November 1, 2019 to impose the Affordable Supportive Housing State Shared Tax authorized by HB 1406. Tukwila must now decide how to spend that revenue, whether it be pooling the revenue with SKHHP, keeping the revenue to be used on affordable housing initiatives in Tukwila, or a combination of the two. REVIEWED BY ❑ Trans&Infrastructure ❑ CommunitySvs/Safety ❑ Finance Comm. ❑ Planning/Economic Dev. ❑ LTAC ❑ Arts Comm. ❑ Parks Comm. ❑ Planning Comm. DATE: 03/02/20 AND 3/16/20 COMMITTEE CHAIR: MCLEOD RECOMMENDATIONS: SPONSOR/ADMIN. Department of Community Development COMMITTEE Forward to Committee of the Whole COST IMPACT / FUND SOURCE EXPENDITURE REQUIRED AMOUNT BUDGETED APPROPRIATION REQUIRED Fund Source: Comments: MTG. DATE RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTION 03/23/20 Forward to next Regular Meeting 04/06/20 MTG. DATE ATTACHMENTS 03/23/20 Informational Memorandum dated 03/02/2020 (updated after 3/2 PED Committee) Attachments (House Bill 1406, SKHHP Resolution No. 2019-06, Notice from DOR) Resolution in draft form Minutes from the March 2 & March 16 PED Committee 04/06/20 Informational Memorandum dated 03/31/20 (updated after 3/23 C.O.W.) Draft Resolution 11 12 City of Tukwila Allan Ekberg, Mayor INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM TO: Planning & Economic Development FROM: Minnie Dhaliwal, Deputy Director of Department of Community Development BY: Meredith Sampson, Associate Planner CC: Mayor Ekberg DATE: March 2, 2020 (updated March 314-6, 2020) SUBJECT: HB 1406 Investments in Affordable Housing, Revenue Options ISSUE How does Tukwila want to allocate revenue received from HB 1406? BACKGROUND During the 2019 legislative session, the state approved HB 1406 which is a local revenue sharing program for local governments. This allows local governments to collect a portion of state sales tax for addressing affordable housing. The tax credit is in place for up to 20 years. All projects funded by HB 1406 must serve those at or below 60% of the area median income (AMI). Homelessness and affordable housing are key issues both in the region as a whole and in the City of Tukwila itself. The revenue available to cities through this bill is a way to begin to address this issue through acquiring, rehabilitating, or constructing affordable housing; operations and maintenance of new affordable housing or supportive housing facilities; or for rental assistance. House Bill 1406 can be found as Attachment A. In September 2019 Tukwila passed Resolution No. 1966 and Ordinance No. 2316 with an effective date of November 1, 2019 to impose the Affordable Supportive Housing State Shared Tax authorized by HB 1406. The maximum award amount that Tukwila may receive each year is $165,998.21. The revenue from HB 1406 can be used for: 1. Acquiring, rehabilitating, or constructing affordable housing; and/or 2. Operations and maintenance of new affordable housing or supportive housing facilities; and/or 3. Providing rental assistance to tenants (only an option for cities with a population less than 100,000 people). Tukwila's current population is 20,294. DISCUSSION Tukwila must make a decision regarding how to spend the revenue received from HB 1406 for the next 20 years. There are three options for spending the revenue: 1. Pool revenue with participating South King Housing and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP) cities. Tukwila currently participates in South King Housing and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP), which is a coalition formed by an interlocal agreement between Auburn, Burien, Covington, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Normandy Park, Renton, King County, and Tukwila. The purpose of SKHHP is to increase the available options for 13 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 2 South King County residents to access affordable housing and to preserve the existing affordable housing stock. Tukwila Signed SKHHP Resolution No. 2019-06 (Attachment B) which supports the idea of all participating SKHHP cities pooling the revenue received from HB 1406. Auburn, Burien, and Des Moines have both passed resolutions to pool all funding received from HB 1406 with SKHHP, assuming all other cities will also pool their resources. If other cities decide not to pool their revenue, they will not pool either. If all cities pool their revenue from HB 1406, the maximum revenue would be approximately one million dollars per year. The maximum yearly revenue per City is capped at .0073% of the sales tax revenue from 2019 and could be less based on actual sales tax collected each year. This tax credit is in place for 20 years, totaling approximately 20 million dollars overall if sales tax revenue stays consistent in the region. This money would be used toward affordable housing projects within the participating cities. City Estimated Annual Revenue Auburn $154,992 Burien $65,477 Covington $43,678 Des Moines $29,793 Federal Way $124,142 Kent $185,467 Normandy Park $4,866 Renton $236,380 Tukwila $165,998 Total $1,010,793 Table 1. Estimates based on 2018 data Of the participating SKHHP members, so far Auburn, Burien, and Des Moines have passed resolutions to pool 100% of their revenue from HB 1406. Kent has deferred this decision to the Mayor. The language used in the SKHHP Resolution No. 2019-06 specifies urging member cities to pool their funds. At this time King County is undecided as to how and where their revenue from this bill will be spent. The SKHHP Executive Board will be the body that will decide on how the pooled revenue from HB 1406 will be spent. Counties and cities that enact the provisions of HB 1406 may issue general obligation or revenue bonds, and may use money collected under HB 1406 for the repayment of bonds. 2. Maintain all revenue to be used in Tukwila. Tukwila could choose to keep all revenue collected from HB 1406 to be used toward: acquiring, rehabilitating, or constructing housing; operations and maintenance of new affordable housing; and/or providing rental assistance to low-income tenants, all within the City of Tukwila. Some examples of revenue spending within the City are: 14 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 3 • Rehabilitating Tukwila's existing affordable housing stock, which may include partnering with King County Housing Authority. • Partnering with existing affordable housing developers on projects that are shovel -ready. • Providing rental assistance to Tukwila's low-income tenants. • Exploring the option to bond with the purposes of funding affordable housing construction 3. Keep a portion of the revenue for rental assistance or rehabilitation of the existing affordable housing stock in Tukwila and pool the remainder with SKHHP. Tukwila could choose to split the revenue from HB 1406 between rental assistance and pooling funds with SKHHP. Table 2 shows the maximum amount per year that Tukwila would keep for rental assistance and the amount that would be pooled with SKHHP when different percentages of the revenue from SHB 1406 are retained by the City. Max. HB 1406 Percent Used Maximum Maximum Number of Revenue/Year for Tukwila $/Year Used $/Year Tukwila Rental for Tukwila pooled to households Assistance Rental SKHHP to be Assistance served $165,998 10% $16,599.80 $149,398.20 24 $165,998 15% $24,899.70 $141,098.30 36 $165,998 20% $33,199.60 $132,798.40 47 $165,998 25% $41,499.50 $124,498.50 59 $165,998 30% $49,799.40 $116,198.60 71 Table 2. Split Revenue between Rental Assistance and SKHHP Tukwila is in a unique position compared to other participating SKHHP cities. Only cities with a population under 100,000 people qualify to use the revenue from this bill on rental assistance, which Tukwila has. Tukwila also has an existing program in place that provides direct services to residents, which many other SKHHP cities do not. In 2019, Human Services provided rental assistance to 66 households with grants averaging between $5004700. However, an additional 181 residents were qualified and counted as a 'turn -away'— meaning they qualified for assistance, but the City had no funds available to assist. Between 2018 and 2019, the City experienced a 376% percent increase in rental assistance need over the previous year. For context, in 2018, the City turned away 35 qualified residents; the percent change is indicating the City is experiencing a significant increase in need for rental assistance which it did not meet. Approximately 70% of financial assistance calls to human services are requests for rental assistance. Allocating a portion of the revenue collected through this bill could allow the City to stabilize additional households and enable those households to remain in Tukwila. If there are funds that have not been expended for rental assistance in Tukwila at the end of each year, these funds could then be pooled with SKHHP. Staff has looked at the buildina permit data of previous renovations of existina affordable housing owned by King County Housing Authority (KCHA) in Tukwila. The value of improvements ranges from $1.4 million dollars to $575,000. The higher end was for renovating a three story 30-unit apartment building in 2007 to upgrade its fire protection 15 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 4 and mechanical system. The lower end was for minimal exterior envelope upgrades such as new siding, trim and roof repairs to a two story apartment complex with 32 units in 2019. The majority of KCHA housing was built in the 1960s and 1970s. As these properties age, they become more expensive to operate and maintain. With each Passing year, features such as utility systems, building envelopes, and elevators come closer to the end of their useful life span. To finance improvements, KCHA has used low- income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, and federal money to extend the life of its public housing. If City Council elects to use some of the HB 1406 money for renovating existing housing it is likely that the split amount would not be sufficient to make a significant impact and the cost to upgrade apartments would outstrip the annual revenue available. Update March 31. 2020: At the March 23, 2020 Committee of the Whole meeting, Councilmembers asked staff to provide analysis and recommendations on how the City could use the HB 1406 funding in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been a collective effort among the SKHHP cities to pool funds, the City recognizes that there are likely to be significant impacts in the Tukwila community due to the loss of income of many residents. This loss of income will likely increase the need for rental and utility assistance. (While HB 1406 funds cannot be used for utility assistance, those funds could be used for rental assistance and free up existing Human Services fundina for utilitv assistance). To date, the City has collected approximately $45,000 in HB 1406 funds. This represents distributions through the month of January, as sales tax distribution lags approximately two months. It is reasonable to assume that the City will be distributed another approximately $12,000 - $14,000 for February and that the distribution for March and subsequent months will be substantiallv lower due to the loss of sales tax associated with COVID-19. Councilmembers specifically asked for information on what the need is for rental and utility assistance in the community. At this point it is not completely clear as there are many moving pieces at this time. It is unknown how many residents will benefit from the federal stimulus bill that will provide cash payments to those who qualify. Also, additional funding sources have been made available in the region for renters seeking assistance, including United Way, Seattle Foundation and other funding. It is reasonable to expect that additional programs will come online as well in the comina weeks. Historically, Human Services has had a lifetime maximum for assistance of $700 per family. Staff recommends that during this pandemic that limit should be temporarily raised to $1,200 Per family in order to provide broader assistance to our community. With the funds already collected and expected in the February distribution, the City could assist between 80 and 50 families with rental assistance. deoendina on the amount reauested oer family. At this point, there are three alternatives for using 1406 funds that would make sense moving forward: Option 1: Stay with the existing recommendation of designating 30% of the funds to be used for rental assistance and designating 70% to be pooled with SKHHP. Option 2: Dedicate all of the HB 1406 funds received through February 2020 to be used for rental assistance and then split the funds moving forward beginning in March 2020 with 30% of the funds kept for rental assistance and 70% of the funds to be pooled with SKHHP. 16 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 5 Option 3: Dedicate all of the HB 1406 funds to be used for rental assistance until the COVID-19 pandemic is over as determined by the City Administration: at that point pass new legislation to align with keeping 30% of the funds for rental assistance and pooling 70% of the funds with SKHHP_ FINANCIAL IMPACT Tukwila began collecting revenue from HB 1406 on November 1, 2019 per official notice from the Department of Revenue (Attachment C). Revenue is distributed to the City monthly from the Department of Revenue as a percentage of Tukwila's sales tax that, prior to this bill, went to the State. Tukwila's maximum yearly revenue from HB 1406 is $165,998.21. Tukwila will keep .0073% of the sales tax up to the maximum amount. Once the maximum award is reached, distribution of the tax will stop for the remainder of the fiscal year. RECOMMENDATION Given the realities of COVID-19 pandemic, the likely need in the community, and the reality that the HB 1406 distributions will be dramatically lower in March and subsequent months, staff now recommends dedicating all of the HB 1406 funds to rental assistance until the pandemic is over as determined by City Administration. Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, staff recommends that the Council consider passing new legislation to achieve the split of 30% of the funds kept for rental assistance and 70% of the funds to be pooled with SKHHP. If there is not a need for all of the funds for rental assistance, the City can pool the remaining funds with SKHHP. ATTACHMENTS A. House Bill 1406 B. SKHHP Resolution No. 2019-06 C. Notice from Department of Revenue D. Resolution 17 in NOTE: Text shown in strike-through/underline format reflects the changes made after the March 23, 2020 Committee of the Whole meeting. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO KEEP 300�� OF U I ILIL_ THE FUNDS, UP TO A MAXIMUM OF $49,Qnn ANNUALLY-, v COLLECTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF WASHINGTON STATE HOUSE BILL 1406 AND CITY OF TUKWILA ORDINANCE NO. 2613 FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE TO LOW= INCO MFETENANTS AND FOR TRANSFER OF TUG RFERAAINING HOMELESSNESS PARTNERS AS OUTLINED HEREIN. WHEREAS, the 2019 Washington State Legislature enacted Substitute House Bill (SHB) 1406 on July 28, 2019, which authorizes cities and counties to recapture a portion of the Washington State sales tax for use to support affordable housing initiatives; and WHEREAS, on September 16, 2019, the Tukwila City Council adopted and enacted Resolution No. 1966 and Ordinance No. 2613, which authorize a recapture of Washington State sales tax, under SHB 1406, that is estimated to generate approximately $165,000 per year for the next 20 years; and WHEREAS, the Tukwila City Council authorized the Mayor to enter into an Interlocal Agreement with 8 other south King County cities and King County to form the South King Housing and Homelessness Partners; and WHEREAS, the City of Tukwila executed the South King Housing and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP) Interlocal Agreement on February 21, 2019; and WHEREAS, the Interlocal Agreement states that "the Parties have determined that the most efficient and expeditious way for the Parties to address affordable housing needs in South King County is through cooperative action and pooling public and private resources"; and WHEREAS, all members of SKHHP have taken action to enact the sales tax recapture provisions established in SHB 1406; and W:\Word Processing\Resolutions\HB 1406 use of funds 4-1-20 MS:bjs Page 1 of 3 19 WHEREAS, on November 22, 2019, the SKHHP Executive Board adopted SKHHP Resolution 2019-06, which urges its members to pool funds collected under the provisions of SHB 1406; and WHEREAS, the City of Tukwila is qualified under SHB 1406 to use funds collected toward rental assistance to low-income tenants; and WHEREAS, the City of Tukwila's Human Services Department has a program already in place that provides direct services to households in need and has to turn away qualified residents each year due to a lack of funds; and WHEREAS, due to the COVID-19 pandemic there is a greater need for rental assistance in the City of Tukwila. However, as the situation improves, the City Council may reconsider a new resolution to determine future allocation of SHB 1406 funds for rental assistance and pooling amount with SKHHP; and WHEREAS, SHB 1406 funds may be used for the purpose of acquiring, rehabilitating or constructing affordable housing; funding the operations and maintenance costs of new units of affordable or supportive housing; and for rental assistance; and WHEREAS, SHB 1406 requires counties and cities that enact its provisions to also provide annual reports to the Department of Commerce; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Resolution of Intent (Option 11. The City Council declares its intent to authorize the City of Tukwila to keep 30% of the recaptured Washington State sales tax funds collected under SHB 1406, up to a maximum of $49,800 annually, to be used for rental assistance to Tukwila residents, and to transfer the remaining funds collected to the South King Housing and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP). Section 1. Resolution of Intent Motion 21. The Citv Council declares its intent to authorize the City of Tukwila to keep 100% of the recaptured Washington State sales tax funds collected under SHB 1406 through February 2020 to be used for rental assistance to Tukwila residents. Beginning March 2020, allocate 30% of the recaptured Washington State sales tax funds collected under SHB 1406 for rental assistance, up to a maximum of $49.800 annually. and transfer the remainina funds collected to the South Kina Housina and Homelessness Partners (SKHHP). W:\Word Processing\Resolutions\HB 1406 use of funds 4-1-20 MS:bjs 20 Page 2 of 3 Section 1. Resolution of Intent [Option 31. The City Council declares its intent to authorize the City of Tukwila to keep 100% of the recaptured Washington State sales tax funds collected under SHB 1406 to be used for rental assistance to Tukwila residents until the COVID-19 pandemic is over as determined by the City Administration. As the situation improves, the City Council shall consider a new resolution to determine future allocation of SHB 1406 funds for rental assistance and a Doolina amount with the South Kina Housina and Homelessness Partners SKHHP. Section 2. Further Authority; Ratification. All City officials, their agents, and representatives are hereby authorized and directed to undertake all action necessary or desirable from time to time to carry out the terms of, and complete the actions contemplated by, this resolution. All acts taken pursuant to the authority of this resolution but prior to its effective date are hereby ratified. Section 3. This authorization is contingent upon each of the other SKHHP cities taking similar action to direct a proportionate amount of SHB 1406 funds to SKHHP. Section 4. Effective Date. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its passage and adoption. PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA, WASHINGTON, at a Regular Meeting thereof this day of ATTEST/AUTHENTICATED: Christy O'Flaherty, MMC, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM BY: Office of the City Attorney , 2020. De'Sean Quinn, Council President Filed with the City Clerk: Passed by the City Council: Resolution Number: W:\Word Processing\Resolutions\HB 1406 use of funds 4-1-20 MS:bjs Page 3 of 3 21