PREPARED BY: Jennifer Kauffman DATE OF MEETING: 01/19/21
SUBJECT:
TITLE
UPDATE ON THE SAN PABLO “BACK TO BUSINESS” COVID-19 RELIEF FUND AND RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN PABLO EXTENDING THE CITY’S FISCAL YEAR 2020/21 COVID-19 HOUSING ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM TO MARCH 31, 2021 OR UNTIL GRANT FUNDS RUN OUT, WHICHEVER IS SOONER
Label
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Adopt Resolution
Body
Compliance statements
Explore protections for tenants who may be potentially displaced from current COVID-19 pandemic impacts was a policy item added to the FY 2019-21 Council Priority Workplan as amended on May 18, 2020.
CEQA Compliance Statement
This resolution is deemed not a project under the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act, (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5): Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. If deemed a project, then the approval of the resolution is deemed exempt from CEQA pursuant to the following separate and independent basis: Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because it can be seen with certainty that the ordinance has no potential to cause a significant effect on the environment; and Section 15269(c) because adoption of this resolution is to prevent or mitigate an emergency.
BACKGROUND
On October 19, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution 2020-133 approving the program guidelines for the San Pablo “Back to Business” COVID-19 Relief Fund and allocating $55,000 to the program. The San Pablo Economic Development Corporation (SPEDC) administers this program, providing one-time grants of $5,000 to small businesses that have experienced adverse financial impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To-date, 23 applications have been submitted, five of which received funding. The remaining applications were not funded because the businesses did not meet the eligibility requirements or the applications, were incomplete or pending additional documentation. SPEDC staff are providing support to businesses to submit outstanding paperwork. The next application round opens on January 25, 2021 and will remain open through February 7th. No action is proposed for City Council at this time.
On June 29, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution 2020-082 establishing the program guidelines of the Fiscal Year 2020/21 COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program (the “Program”) for eligible San Pablo residents using $250,000 in Low Income Housing Funds (the “Grant Funds”). On September 21, 2020, due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council extended the Grant deadline to December 31, 2020. The Program provides a one-time grant per household of up to $1,000 to help pay for rent, mortgage or utility payments during the Shelter-in-Place Orders caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected vulnerable San Pablo residents, particularly those with lower incomes. The State of California recognized the financial stress that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused and passed AB 3088 (Tenant, Homeowner, and Small Landlord Relief and Stabilization Act of 2020) in August 2020. This bill limits eviction for non-payment of rent of tenants enduring financial hardship due to COVID-19 through January 2021 and delays landlords’ option to take tenants to small claims court to recover unpaid rent. AB 3088 is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2021; however, the Legislature recently introduced several proposals for the 2020-21 State Legislative Session to extend AB 3088 until March 2021 or through the end of 2021.
To date, staff has received 133 applications. Staff is waiting on documentation for 103 applications and has funded 30 grants totaling $26,000. Therefore, a total of $224,000 in grant funds are still available. Consistent with this State effort to extend support to tenants and homeowners through this difficult time, the proposed resolution extends the program to March 31, 2021 or until the grant funds run out, whichever is sooner.
FISCAL IMPACT
Extending the program would increase expenditures by up to $224,000 by allowing for more grants to be given out. No additional funding is needed to extend the program to March 31, 2021.