Title
Amendment to the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Gainesville and Alachua County to Operate a Rental Assistance Program (B)
This item requests City Commission approval to amend an Interlocal Agreement with Alachua County to reprogram unencumbered funds from the Rental Assistance Program. The City’s unencumbered funds from the Rental Assistance Program will be reallocated to the GNVCares for Neighbors Initiative.
Explanation
Each year the City receives funding from the State through the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program. Consistent with SHIP Program rules, the City uses this funding for several programs that preserve and increase access to housing for very low, low and moderate income households. These programs include Down Payment Assistance, Home Repair, Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention, Counseling and Disaster Assistance.
In 2016, SHIP Program rules were amended to also allow Cities and Counties to use up to 15% of each year’s allocation for Rental Assistance Programs that work to reduce homelessness. In response to the amended SHIP Program rules, the City of Gainesville and Alachua County formed a funding partnership authorized through an interlocal agreement to implement a Rental Assistance Program. Consistent with the interlocal agreement, the Rental Assistance Program is housed in, and staffed by, the County’s Community Support Services Department.
With the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, both the City and County reviewed current and future budgets to identify funds that could be available to mitigate the impacts of this emergency. Review of the Rental Assistance Program indicated that, due to social distancing requirements, a portion of the funds budgeted for the current Fiscal Year could not be spent within the time period required by the SHIP Program. In addition, the State has specifically allowed Cities and Counties to reprogram SHIP Funds to address the COVID-19 emergency.
As proposed, the amendment to...
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