Housing department update: home repair backlog, $10M carryover and open vendor procurement
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Summary
Department of Housing staff told the committee they expect to finish 70'0 homes by fiscal year end, are conducting an open procurement for a vendor to administer the Home Improvement Program (HIP) and explained why many repair cases show AMI as 'unknown' under ARPA-funded rules.
The City of Dallas Department of Housing briefed the Housing and Homeless Solutions Committee on May 27 on quarterly performance through the second quarter of the fiscal year, answering member questions about home repair funding, program metrics and several acronyms in the report.
Thorickson, assistant director of the department, said the prior-year carryover was $10 million and total budget for the home repair program was roughly $8.4 million for the year; department staff told the committee they currently expect to complete roughly 70 to 80 home-repair projects year to date (report tabulated through March and additional work has proceeded since that cut-off). Thorickson said the department has issued a Notice of Funds Available seeking a vendor to administer the Home Improvement Program (HIP) and has received proposals; staff said any selected vendor will have a ramp-up period.
Why AMI reads as "unknown": Thorickson explained that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds were targeted to homeowners in qualified census tracts and the program allowed presumed AMI eligibility without full income verification. Council members asked that the report change the label from "AMI unknown" to something clearer such as "census-tract-qualified".
Council members pressed staff on presentation clarity: several asked that future memos spell out acronyms (for example, PFC, HFC, DHAP) and that tables show both quarter and year-to-date metrics. Jackie Schroeder, interim administrator for the Housing Finance Corporation and Public Facilities Corporation (HFC/PFC), explained a negative revenue line on the PFC numbers: the PFC had paid security for a property (Park at Northpointe) and will be reimbursed at closing of the transaction, creating a temporary negative revenue entry in the report.
Thorickson said the department expects to continue expending home-repair dollars through the end of the calendar year while the procurement for an administrator continues, and reaffirmed they expect roughly 70'0 homes completed by fiscal-year end given existing pipeline commitments.
Committee members also asked about broader housing tracking. Staff said planning and development permit reports can provide market-rate unit data, and Cynthia Ellickson, director of Housing and Community Development, said the city's budget office is monitoring federal funding scenarios (including potential cuts to CDBG and HOME in federal proposals) and will advise departments as those federal decisions become clearer.
The committee requested clearer, spelled-out acronyms in future reports, a monthly-style breakdown (quarter and year-to-date), and a follow-up on PFC timing for reimbursements. No formal action was taken; this item was a briefing.
