Board of County Commissioners Leon County, Florida Affordable Housing Initiatives Workshop Tuesday, March 23, 2021 3:00 p.m. Leon County Courthouse, Commission Chambers, 5th Floor 301 S. Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301 The media and the public can access the meeting in real time on Comcast channel 16, Prism channels 16 and 1016-HD, the Leon County Florida channel on Roku, the County’s Facebook page, YouTube channel, Twitter and County web site. Leon County Board of County Commissioners Notes for Workshop Page 1 of 324 Posted March 16, 2021 Leon County Board of County Commissioners Workshop Item March 23, 2021 To: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board From: Vincent S. Long, County Administrator Title: Workshop on Affordable Housing Initiatives in Leon County Review and Approval: Vincent S. Long, County Administrator Department/ Division Alan Rosenzweig, Deputy County Administrator Review: Wanda Hunter, Assistant County Administrator Lead Staff/ Project Shington Lamy, Director, Human Services & Community Partnership Team: Matthew G. Wyman, Housing Services Manager Statement of Issue: As requested at the Board’s June 16, 2020 meeting, this workshop provides an update on Leon County’s affordable housing policies and programs and includes an analysis of local housing data as well as program goals to improve access to housing for low-income citizens. This workshop will also discuss specific housing topics raised by the Board after the Workshop had been scheduled. Fiscal Impact: This item has no fiscal impact. Staff Recommendations: See next page. Page 2 of 324 Posted March 16, 2021 Title: Workshop on Affordable Housing Initiatives in Leon County March 23, 2021 Page 2 Staff Recommendations: Option #1: Accept the status report on affordable housing in Leon County. Option #2: Request the Housing Finance Authority of Leon County (HFA) to develop a procedure to evaluate and recommend projects seeking Local Government Area of Opportunity Funding Tax Credits for local government support. Option #3: Continue to redistribute PILOT fees provided by the Tallahassee Housing Authority back to the agency to support property maintenance services, security and resident services including after-school programs and summer programming. Option #4: Direct staff to prepare a future agenda item to consider a partnership with the City on the Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund focusing on individuals returning to the community from incarceration, to be funded through the County’s existing Jail Diversion budget. Option#5: Continue to support previous Board direction to Planning staff on the development of inclusionary housing policy recommendations as part of the Future Land Use Element Update of the Tallahassee-Leon County Comprehensive Plan. Page 3 of 324 Posted March 16, 2021 Title: Workshop on Affordable Housing Initiatives in Leon County March 23, 2021 Page 3 Executive Summary Housing is a basic human need. Having access to housing that is affordable is essential to the quality of life of every citizen, family and community. Ensuring access to stable and safe housing that is affordable for residents with low-income is a priority in Leon County’s Strategic Plan. This workshop addresses the continuous efforts of the County, in collaboration with our many local partners, to address the affordable housing issues in our community and leverage the maximum state and federal resources available to assist our citizens. Most households in Leon County (64%) have enough income to meet their housing needs and are not burdened by housing costs; however, approximately one-third of households are cost burdened. The State and Federal governments define affordable housing as housing that costs no more than 30% of the household’s total income, including costs for utilities, homeowner’s association fees, property insurance, renters’ insurance, and other housing-related expenses. Households that must spend more than 30% of their total income for housing expenses are considered cost burdened. State and federal program funds target cost burdened households earning 120% or less of the geographic area’s median income. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has indicated that Leon County’s area median income for a household of 4 is $72,700. The analyses and subsequent recommendations in this report are based upon these criteria. Generally, the County’s housing program services the needs of cost burdened households in the unincorporated areas of the County, while the City of Tallahassee’s program assists households within the City limits. However, as will be detailed later in this report, the County partners with the City of Tallahassee and other stakeholders like the Housing Finance Authority of Leon County, Tallahassee Lenders Consortium Inc., and the Tallahassee Housing Authority on many affordable housing projects to address the housing needs of all county residents. For example, over the past two years, Leon County has collaborated with the Housing Finance Authority of Leon County to secure a combined total of $28 million in bonds to support the redevelopment of two multifamily housing projects located within the City: Magnolia Terrace Apartments and Phase I of the Orange Avenue Apartments. In supporting The Tallahassee Housing Authority’s affordable housing programs, the Board has historically returned funds to the Authority resulting from the Authority’s payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), which are made by the Authority to return for public services and account for ad valorem taxes that would have been otherwise due but for the Authority’s statutory tax exemption. This workshop recommends the Board maintain this practice. In addition to assisting with financing the Orange Avenue Apartments, the County is also supporting the community revitalization efforts in South City. As will be detailed in the background and analysis of this workshop, in December 2017 the County and City jointly invited Purpose Built Communities to assist in developing the master plan for the Orange Avenue project which included revitalization of the South City neighborhood. Purpose Built Communities Foundation Inc. (Purpose Built Communities) is a nonprofit organization cofounded by Warren Buffet, to help end generational poverty in low income communities by focusing on improved housing, health and education outcomes of disadvantaged neighborhoods. Page 4 of 324 Posted March 16, 2021 Title: Workshop on Affordable Housing Initiatives in Leon County March 23, 2021 Page 4 Leon County also partnered with the City and the Tallahassee Lender’s Consortium to establish a Community Land Trust. To date, the County has donated four county-owned parcels located within the City and plans are underway to develop single-family homes and multi-family units to ensure access to affordable housing for households in need of affordable housing. Also included in the workshop is a recommendation from the Public Safety Coordination Council (PSCC) to support housing needs of individuals released from incarceration. As supported by the PSCC, this item recommends using the annual $100,000 from the jail diversionary fund to partner with the City’s Landlord Mitigation Program to ensure access to housing for those returning to the community from incarceration. In addition to partnerships, the County uses state housing funds to establish a variety of programs such as down payment assistance, emergency housing repair, home rehabilitation, home replacement, rental assistance, rental development, and homeownership development to exclusively address the needs of low-income households in the unincorporated areas. Like most county housing programs, Leon County’s programs have limited funding sources so the County leverages partnerships, collaborates and coordinates with other housing stakeholders. As outlined in this workshop, the lack of funding and other factors like stagnate wage growth, the cost of building materials and a shortage of skilled labor, present challenges for communities across America in their efforts to meet the need for housing. Despite these challenges, the County has continued to make notable advances in addressing the diverse needs for affordable housing by utilizing multiple strategies and leveraging its resources. As the community landscape evolves, longer-term planning will be needed in order to enhance the current affordable housing options. This workshop recommends that the County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee which is comprised of citizens representing a cross section of affordable housing stakeholders, engage with more private sector stakeholders to help identify innovative approaches to affordable housing and other programs such as the Landlord Risk Mitigation program proposed in this report. The housing needs identified in this report were determined using multiple data sources, including studies by the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, the National Association of Counties, and the Florida Housing Coalition. These countywide studies define the greatest affordable housing needs in the County by housing type and household income level. In summary, the studies concluded that the greatest affordable housing needs in the community are more rental units for households with incomes 50% or less of the area median income (AMI). The data used in these studies are slightly skewed by the number of college students living in the community. As noted in the study completed by the Florida Housing Coalition, the need for rental units may be more reflective of the characteristics