Affordable Housing
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Consolidated Plan Program Years 2020-2024 Executive Summary ES-05 Executive Summary - 24 CFR 91.200(c), 91.220(b) 1. Introduction The Consolidated Plan establishes the basis and strategy for the use of federal funds granted to the City of Knoxville by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the following programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG); HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME); Housing for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) and the Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESG). The City of Knoxville has continuously received direct HUD allocations of CDBG funds since 1989 and HOME funds since 1992. Although the City began receiving a direct HUD allocation of ESG funds in 1989, from 2014-2019 it received an allocation through the State of Tennessee instead. After six years, HUD informed the City it will again receive a direct allocation in year one (2020-2021) of this Consolidated Plan period. The City does not receive any HOPWA funds. The Housing and Neighborhood Development (formerly Community Development) Department is the lead agency responsible for the development and implementation of the City of Knoxville’s Consolidated Plan. The following plan spans five program years (PY) 2020-2024, beginning July 1, 2020, and ending June 30, 2025. The strategies and projects outlined in this plan are intended to benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) residents, stabilize and improve neighborhoods with high concentrations of low- and moderate-income residents (known as low-moderate-income areas or LMAs), and positively impact the city as a whole. Strategies will coordinate with other federal and state grant programs and local initiatives to meet the objectives outlined in the plan. The Consolidated Plan builds on the strengths and accomplishments of current plans and will continue programs that support the five-year objectives. The City of Knoxville also supports, with its local general funds, community development initiatives such as the acquisition and stabilization of chronic problem properties, commercial façade improvement, neighborhood stabilization and revitalization, and homelessness reduction and prevention services – all of which complement or enhance activities funded through this plan. These initiatives help to both Consolidated Plan KNOXVILLE 1 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 06/30/2018) improve the built environment in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, as well as the lives of people living in them. The City of Knoxville works with many community partners such as Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation (KCDC), Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee (CAC), Knoxville Leadership Foundation/Neighborhood Housing, Inc., Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs), and others. Through their ability to raise private funds and utilize the assistance of volunteers, they increase the impact of federal and local government funding. 2. Summary of the objectives and outcomes identified in the Plan Needs Assessment Overview The City of Knoxville has outlined high priority objectives in this strategic plan that are intended to meet the following goals: 1. Reduce and Prevent Homelessness - Increase affordable, permanent housing through rental housing development/rehabilitation, including permanent supportive housing development/rehabilitation; Prevent homelessness and displacement of LMI residents through emergency home repair, including accessibility modifications, homelessness prevention services, including case management and other supportive services, and housing assistance payments/public services; Connect people to resources through rapid re-housing assistance, case management, including housing navigation, health services (mental health and substance abuse), especially for especially vulnerable populations, employment and economic stability, street outreach, and mechanisms to measure impact and effectiveness of homeless programs and services (HMIS); Provide emergency shelter (including low barrier shelter); and Provide emergency services, including amenities that provide support for people currently living on the streets or in emergency shelter. 2. Stabilize and Revitalize Neighborhoods - Increase housing affordability through housing development, by partnering with Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs) and others and providing down payment and closing cost assistance to CHDO-homebuyers; Prevent displacement through housing rehabilitation, design and technical assistance, and home-based supportive services for special populations; and Support the stabilization and maintenance of blighted properties. 3. Create Economic Opportunity - Create job opportunities with HUD-funded affordable housing construction activities and HUD (and other)-funded construction activities; Support employment and job training, including workforce development; and Increase economic opportunity through the development of a construction-related job pipeline, creation of a central repository of contractors and sub-contractors, and support for capacity-building within the community. 4. Enhancing the Availability, Accessibility, and Quality of Affordable Housing - Increase affordable rental housing through new construction and rehabilitation; Increase affordable owner-occupied housing through new construction by partnering with CHDOs, Provide down payment and closing cost assistance to CHDO-homebuyers; Increase permanent supportive housing; Support energy conservation/efficiency in affordable housing development; and Support broadband internet in affordable housing development. Consolidated Plan KNOXVILLE 2 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 06/30/2018) 3. Evaluation of past performance During the current five year Consolidated Plan period (PY2015-2019), the City of Knoxville was awarded $11.72M in HUD grant funds ($7.37M in CDBG and $4.34M in HOME). The City has spent approximately $14.6M in HUD funds during the first 4 years, the difference being funds remaining from previous years and program income received from loan payments paid by owner-occupied housing rehabilitation recipients. Results from Year Five (PY2019-2020) will be compiled after June 30 with accomplishments results in the City’s 2019-2020 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) expected to be released in September 2020. PY2015-2019 Priority Need: Homelessness The City of Knoxville received $830,433 (about $166,000 per year) in Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds through the State of Tennessee/Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) throughout the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan period. The State ESG funds were primarily (75% or $718,890) used to fund agencies to provide Rapid Re-housing services, a HUD priority area, that assist individuals and households who are literally homeless and/or fleeing domestic violence with housing relocation and stabilization services. The City also allocated $816,500 (about $163,300/year) in local funds over the five year period to agencies, the majority (69% or $647,000) for emergency shelter and essential services, including transitional housing and services, for people who were literally homeless, at-risk for homelessness, and/or fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence. Remaining ESG and City general funds were used for homelessness prevention, support for the Homelessness Management Information Systems (HMIS), street outreach, and grant administration. The City also contributed other local funds to support: the Office on Homelessness which coordinates Knoxville’s Plan to Address Homelessness and assists in the Continuum of Care (CoC); case management services/homelessness prevention at two permanent supportive housing complexes (Minvilla Manor and Flenniken Landing) and at designated KCDC high-rise apartments serving people at high-risk of eviction; efforts to provide a safer environment for people who are unsheltered, which included physical improvements (picnic tables and bathrooms), security services, and street outreach; and (more recently) the rehabilitation of a building that offers low-barrier shelter at night and services to chronically homeless individuals while helping them obtain more permanent housing. In the first four years of the five year Consolidated Plan period, 2,807 individuals received rapid re- housing services; 3,488 people received emergency shelter/essential services; 4,877 individuals received homelessness prevention services; and 98 received street outreach services. HMIS assisted 17 homeless agencies. During this time, 105 units of permanent supportive housing were created. PY2015-2019 Priority: Affordable Housing Almost $12M or 80% of total HUD CDBG and HOME funds spent in the first four years were spent on affordable housing, the majority of that being spent on owner-occupied affordable housing rehabilitation, development, and down payment assistance to LMI home buyers. In 2016 and 2017, CAC, the City of Knoxville Office of Sustainability and multiple community groups collaborated on the Knoxville Extreme Energy Makeover (KEEM) program. Fueled by a $15 million grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority, KEEM provided free, whole-home, direct-install energy-efficiency upgrades to nearly 1,300 lower-income families and educated more than 1,700 residents on how to manage their utility bills through energy-saving habits. Consolidated Plan KNOXVILLE 3 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 06/30/2018) The partnerships developed from the KEEM program continue to benefit residents through KUB’s Round It Up program, which funds CAC’s Housing