Housing commission forms subcommittee to revise flexible housing fund scoring and push RFP this fall

The Housing Opportunities Commission met Aug. 13 and moved to create a subcommittee to revise the scoring matrix and recommend how to allocate the city’s flexible housing fund, a CIP account that currently shows a $535,000 balance.

The commission heard that the balance — referred to repeatedly by staff as $535,000 — is CIP money derived from ARPA and therefore must be used for capital expenditures tied to physical assets rather than for programmatic payments such as down-payment assistance. Staff also told commissioners the commission’s prior scoring matrix was based on the state LIHTC (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) scoring system and may not fit rehab, scattered-site or non-LIHTC projects well.

Why it matters: commissioners said time is short to obligate or encumber the funds this year and that a clear, equitable scoring framework is needed so staff can release an RFP and encumber funds before the end of the calendar year if council approves. Several commissioners emphasized they did not want the award process to funnel all funding to a single, large developer or to favor a single project type.

Key details

- Fund balance and rules: Staff confirmed a balance of…