City Council
Redevelopment Successor
Agency Report
City Council Meeting: December 12, 2023
Agenda Item: 5.O
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To: Redevelopment Successor Agency, Mayor and City Council From: Heather Averick, Director, Housing and Human Services Department Subject: Annual Report on Low-Mod Housing Income Asset Fund Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council and Redevelopment Successor Agency:
1. Receive the Annual Report on the Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund for Fiscal Year 2022-23 and authorize the City Manager to post the report on the City's website by December 31, 2023;
2. Direct the City Manager to present the independent audit of the Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund to the Council upon completion of the independent audit of the City’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and authorize the City Manager to post the results of the audit on the City's website after presentation to City Council; and
3. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Summary
The City provides financial assistance to support the acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction of housing affordable to lower income households, a local strategy that supports the Council’s priority to increase the supply of affordable housing. City funding to support the investments comes from a variety of sources (e.g., voter-approved Measure GSH funds, loan repayments, and development impact fees), and is accounted for in various funds. The Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund specifically accounts for the housing assets of the former Santa Monica Redevelopment Agency. State law requires the City to report annually on the Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund (Fund) of the former Santa Monica Redevelopment Agency (RDA) and requires an independent audit of the Fund, which will be completed as part of the City’s annual audit process.
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Discussion
The City as Housing Successor assumed the housing functions of the former RDA on January 10, 2012. The transfer of the functions included the transfer of formerly designated RDA low- and moderate-income housing assets together with any funds generated by former RDA housing assets. The funds must be maintained by the City in a separate Fund and expended in accordance with California Health and Safety Code Section 34176.1. Allowable expenditures include the development of affordable housing, monitoring and preservation of housing subject to affordability restrictions and covenants, and homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services for homeless individuals.
Senate Bill 341, which is codified in Section 34176.1 of the California Health and Safety Code and became effective on January 1, 2014, requires each housing successor that assumed the housing functions of a former redevelopment agency to post a report on its website that contains information regarding the Fund for the previous fiscal year. In this case, the City, as the Housing Successor, is required to prepare and post the report (Attachment A), after Council's review and receipt.
The report includes the following information:
• the balance in the Fund as of the close of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 was $13,580,560 with $560,746 in deposits from interest income and residual receipts, and $533,350 in expenditures for the development of affordable housing. The balance is currently set aside as part of the adopted Housing Element strategy to focus the City’s affordable housing efforts towards City-owned sites.
The use of City-owned land for affordable housing provides multiple benefits including maximizing the value of the City’s Housing Trust Funds as most of the City’s Housing Trust Funds loaned to affordable housing organizations are used to acquire land. By contributing land that it already owns, the direct cost of acquiring land is eliminated and the City can stretch its Housing Trust Funds 3 of 4
further to increase the supply of affordable housing. The balance in the Fund may be needed by affordable housing organizations for pre-development costs and/or closing the construction gap for affordable housing developments on City-owned sites, such as the former site of Parking Structure 3 or the City-owned sites near Wilshire Boulevard and 14th Street. Based on the six most recent new construction housing developments that the City funds, the average City subsidy for pre-development costs and closing the construction gap was $106,768 per affordable residence and an average City subsidy for land acquisition was $156,145 per affordable residence. Given this average subsidy, the balance in the Fund could provide subsidy to approximately 127 affordable residences on City-owned sites while it would support only 52 homes if private land must be purchased;
• $121,748 of the balance in the Fund has been encumbered by loan commitments to non-profit affordable housing organizations for the production and preservation of affordable housing;
• the former RDA’s replacement housing and inclusionary housing obligations have been satisfied;
• obligations related to development or disposition of real property acquired by the former RDA prior to February 1, 2012 have been met;
• the senior housing test has been met, with 30 percent of assisted residences deed-restricted to seniors within the previous 10 years; and • currently there are no excessive accumulated funds (often called “excess surplus”) that need to be encumbered.
Additionally, to ensure that the monies in the Fund are spent in accordance with the law, Section 34176.1(f) requires an independent financial audit of the Fund within six months of the end of the fiscal year. The independent audit of the Fund is conducted as part of the yearend audit by the City’s independent auditor and is included as part of the City’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). Staff is working to complete 4 of 4
the ACFR during the required six-month timeframe and will post the results of the independent audit of the Fund on its website after the ACFR is presented to Council.
Environmental Review
The report on the Fund is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” The report and the audit are administrative in nature. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action.
Prepared By: Natalie Verlinich, Senior Development Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Attachment A-Annual Summary Report-LMIHAF 22-23