Iowa City reviews housing authority strategic plan proposing development pathways and new staffing

Baker Tilly consultants presented a strategic plan to the Iowa City Council work session on Nov. 18 outlining how the Iowa City Housing Authority (IHA) could preserve existing public housing and expand its affordable housing portfolio through a mix of development pathways and internal restructuring.

"Strengthening communities through affordable housing" is the vision the housing authority and consultants proposed, Kayla Stanfield of Baker Tilly told the council as she summarized the plan’s goals and operating recommendations. The plan identifies five high-level goals, including increasing participation in the Family Self Sufficiency program, building internal financial-management capacity, preserving and expanding affordable units, enhancing organizational structure and improving technology.

Consultants described four interchangeable development pathways: co-development with an experienced partner; self-development with consultant support (the model used in the current pilot); full self-development by an in-house team; and contracting with private developers for faster delivery. "The co-development model is very common for smaller communities," consultant Caitlin Hummerkhaus said, explaining joint planning, risk- and revenue-sharing arrangements and options for project-based vouchers.

On funding and reserves, housing staff reported an HCV (Housing Choice Voucher) administrative reserve balance of roughly $3,170,000. Caitlin Ness, a Baker Tilly consultant, explained that admin reserves serve as a buffer against federal funding and demand fluctuations and can be used for administrative stability, limited voucher expansion and technology or staffing needs — but cautioned against using reserves as a recurring funding source.

Baker Tilly also recommended organizational changes to elevate the housing authority’s profile and capacity: make the housing authority a standalone division in the city structure (with a direct reporting line to the city leadership), retitle the housing administrator to executive director, and create dedicated roles for a housing counselor (to strengthen resident services), a financial coordinator (to manage complex multi-source financing and compliance) and a development manager (to oversee projects and investor relations). The consultants said the financial coordinator position could be supported by HCV admin fees, while development manager costs should ideally be covered by developer fees or project budgets.

Council members pressed on operational capacity and space constraints for additional staff. Tracy Haishu (housing authority staff) and other city staff said a logistics and facilities assessment would be required before hiring and that some initial funding for a housing counselor was written into a separate pro-housing grant.

On legal structure for repositioned public-housing units, consultants outlined two common approaches: creating a nonprofit affiliate (501(c)(3)) to hold title — enabling access to grants and charitable donations — or placing units into an LLC/for-profit structure when pursuing Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and other equity financing. Consultants said governance details and a formal recommendation will be returned to council for consideration.

Baker Tilly closed by describing an implementation action plan, including responsibilities, key performance indicators and a communications strategy for staff and community engagement. They recommended quarterly KPI updates and annual reviews tied to budgeting.

Next steps: staff and consultants will finalize the strategic-plan report, return with specific governance recommendations for repositioned units, and bring any formal staffing or budget requests back to council for approval.