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City to advance accommodations-tax funds to pay Regional Housing Authority invoices while long-term banking solution is set up
Summary
Lake County Mayor Dana Green proposed a short-term fix for two invoices tied to the Regional Housing Authority by having the city release accommodations-tax money to pay them now; the board and city staff discussed creating a longer-term process for the authority to hold and disburse its own funds.
Lake County Mayor Dana Green told the Regional Housing Authority board on an interim fix for unpaid invoices: the city will release accommodations-tax funds to cover two immediate invoices while the authority establishes an operational bank-account process.
"If I send you those two invoices and then you can just make a, like, a formal request or a formal invoice to the city, I will get those funds released, and I will just ask that the checks be made to these two entities for this time," Mayor Dana Green said.
The board, which has budgeted money for the authority, discussed why the short-term fix is necessary. Green said the accommodation-tax ballot language limits how the money can be spent and that the ‘‘ideal’’ arrangement would be for the Regional Housing Authority to have its own bank account, signatory and a mechanism to submit invoices to the city for reimbursement. For now, Green proposed the city cut payments directly from the accommodation-tax fund and the city would later transfer funds to the authority if the authority submits a budget and establishes signatories.
Board members confirmed several invoices currently outstanding are small and include an attorney bill and a newspaper-advertising charge tied to authority actions. Board members also raised related operational items: the authority has a bank account but no current signatory, the account balance is very small, and an insurance invoice included a late fee after a billing transition.
Board members and city staff said a longer-term fix should include the authority formally submitting a budget to the city, city acknowledgement that the budget fits the ballot-language spending categories, and a city-to-authority transfer of an agreed lump-sum so the authority can pay subsequent invoices directly. The county also requested that the authority's executive-director salary budget include benefits, a point Mayor Green said should be handled in a county-level conversation with interim county manager Lauren Snyder.
Next steps described in the meeting: the authority will forward its existing budget to Mayor Green; city staff will place the budget review on a council agenda so the city can acknowledge the authority's budget and allow either a transfer or city payment of immediate invoices. The board asked that city staff and authority representatives meet to reconcile the invoices before checks are cut.
The discussion was procedural and no formal motion was recorded to change the accommodations-tax policy or to make a permanent transfer; attendees treated the city payment as a short-term administrative remedy while the authority and city create a formal operating process.
