The Administration recommends approving the Resolution.

The City has been providing ongoing emergency rent, mortgage and utility assistance for eligible residents adversely impacted by COVID-19. The City is using a variety of federal funds to provide this assistance including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), CARES funding (CDBG-CV), and HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) as well as General Fund dollars. The households assisted through federal funds must be United States citizens or permanent residents earning no more than 80 percent Area Median Income (AMI) for CDBG programs and 60 percent AMI for HOME programs. As of June 30, 2020, the City has funded 199 applications with $420,490.45 in rent and utility assistance.

The following chart delineates expenses and balances by fund and tranche:

The State of Florida was awarded funds pursuant to, section 60(d) of the Social Security Act, as amended by section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. A portion of the State’s CARES Act funds allocation, designated as Coronavirus Relief Funds (“CRF Funds”), were distributed by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) to eligible communities receiving State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) Program funds, including Miami Beach. CRF funds can be awarded to households earning up to 120 percent AMI who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds can be used for a variety of eligible activities including:

• Rental assistance (including rent arrears, deposits and utility payments);

• Mortgage payments (including principal and interest, insurance and homeowner association fees). Real Estate taxes paid to a government entity are not an eligible expense;

• Emergency housing repairs related to COVID-19;

• Assistance to homeowners to pay insurance deductibles;

• Housing re-entry assistance such as security deposits, utility deposits and temporary storage of household furnishings; and

• Homeownership counseling.

   

  Ten percent of funds can be utilized for administrative expenses. The City advertised the availability of funds on August 2, 2020 in The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, the City’s website and social media. All CARES Act funds distributed via HOME, SHIP, CDBG-CV and CDBG, was required to be expended by December 30, 2020.

The Administration used these funds to serve  residents in rent arrears as well as homeowners behind on their mortgage or maintenance/homeowners association (HOA) fees. In order to ensure compliance with funding guidelines, applicants must have met the following criteria:

1. Applicants must have US Citizenship or permanent residency as demonstrated by birth certificate, naturalization certificate or valid (current) permanent residency card;

2. Qualifying utility costs to be paid may include: electricity, water and gas;

3. Program funds are only available to renters or homeowners that live or plan to relocate within City limits and must have valid Florida ID with the address of the assisted property;

4. Maximum household income must be at or below 120% of Area Median Income; 

5. Applicant(s) must be certified by staff as income eligible and remain income eligible while receiving assistance;

6. Financial assistance shall be for a maximum of three (3) months, contingent upon applicant(s) becoming current on the expense once assistance is provided;

7. Rent/ mortgage must have been current as of March 12, 2020; and 

8. Applicants cannot receive funds from another non-profit or governmental jurisdiction whose funds came from a federal source (Applicants will be required to execute a Non-Duplication of Benefits Affidavit).

At a minimum, applications for program assistance must contain the following items for each household member:

• The number of people residing in the household including name, age, relationship to head of household, current address and home phone number;
• Name and address of employer(s), work phone number(s), position title and number of years on job with the current employer;
• Sources of annual income, including earned, unearned and asset income, and a statement signed by all of the adults who reside in the household consenting to the disclosure of information for the purpose of verifying income and assets in order to determine income eligibility for program assistance;
• A signed statement indicating that the applicant understands that all information provided is subject to Florida’s public records laws; and
• A statement that it is a first-degree misdemeanor to falsify information for the purpose of obtaining assistance.

Funds awarded by FHFC must be maintained separate from other funds for the duration of the period of assistance. The City must provide Florida Housing with monthly reports and a closeout report by February 15, 2021. These funds must include the current status and progress of expenditures. Quarterly reports are due to FHFC no later than 15 days after the end of each quarter.

On July 29^th, the Mayor and Commission approved Resolution 2020-31376 authorizing the receipt of $247,500 in the initial allocation of CRF funds and authorizing the City Manager to execute any documents and agreements related to the administration and distribution of these funds. On August 2, 2020, the City created a public advertisement of the availability of funds for ten (10) days. The City then opened the lottery process for Tranche 4 on August 19, 2020 and received 514 applications for rent, mortgage, utility and security deposit assistance by August 26, 2020. The City began processing applications via in-person appointments on September 15. As of October 20, 2020, the City has expended $56,150.21.

On September 15^th, FHFC sent the City an amendment to the Subrecipient Agreement advising that, as the result of an expanded allocation, CRF communities, including the City, can receive up to $396,000 in CRF funds to provide assistance through December 30, 2020 (the expenditure deadline).  

At its November 18th meeting, the Mayor and Commission directed the Administration to pursue additional funds from FHFC that were being made available as other jurisdictions were unable to spend their respective allocations. On November 24, 2020, FHFC notified the City that it was being awarded an additional $75,000 for rent and mortgage assistance. On December 29, 2020 the City requested additional funding in the amount of $20,000 to assist additional households before the expenditure deadline. As with all other CRF funds, funds must have been committed by December 30, 2020.

The Administration recommends retroactively accepting the revised award of Coronavirus Relief Funds from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation in the amended amount of up to $491,000 to assist households impacted by COVID-19 and to execute the required Subrecipient Agreement. With the additional funds, the Administration was able to assist additional households with rent/mortgage funds.