Flagstaff council directs staff to draft source‑of‑income ordinance language after lengthy briefing and public comment

Flagstaff City Council spent the better part of its June 23 work session examining a citizens petition that would amend the city's 2013 civil rights ordinance to prohibit landlords from refusing to rent or applying different lease terms because of a tenant's lawful source of income.

Housing division director Sarah Darr told council the briefing was in response to a citizen petition and outlined the policy issues staff would need to resolve if council wanted a draft ordinance, including which landlords would be covered, which income types would be protected, enforcement mechanisms, exemptions and estimated implementation costs. Darr said the city currently manages about 557 housing choice and specialized vouchers and emphasized that federal rules and local budgets constrain how the voucher program operates.

Charisse Borrego Aguilar, the city's voucher program manager, walked council through how the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program works, the inspection and contract requirements landlords must meet to receive payments, and the program's utilization math. She told council the HCV program typically requires tenants to pay about 30% of adjusted income with HUD allowing up to 40% as a temporary cost‑burden exception, and that Flagstaff has roughly 121 participating landlords and a wait list approaching 3,000 households.

Supporters who addressed the council urged the city to act. Ace Overman, a resident and petition organizer, said: "Every year, as we went over earlier, about 30% of Flagstaff's housing vouchers expire." Rick Michaels, a case manager with Coconino County Health and Human Services, described two recent clients who, he said, were turned away after a landlord learned they had vouchers: "I've seen two specific cases of source of income discrimination in the past three years," he said, and added that clients are often reluctant to file complaints under current rules.

Staff pushed back on the precise arithmetic in some public materials. Darr and Charisse said the program issues about 60 vouchers per year (a turnover rate of about 11%) and that the suggestion 176 vouchers are lost annually is inconsistent with the housing authority's issuance and turnover figures. "We only issue about 60 vouchers a year," Darr said, and noted that deposits, background checks and limited unit availability are frequent reasons vouchers do not lease up.

Council members asked for specifics on enforcement and budget implications. Council member Garcia proposed sending the petition forward for drafting. "My recommendation is that the city manager directs the housing staff to draft an amendment to the 2013 civil rights ordinance and for council to work on this as a group," Garcia said. Multiple council members — including Aslan, Spence, House, Matthews and Vice Mayor Sweet — expressed support for moving forward but asked staff to return with an estimate of staff time, enforcement options and anticipated costs.

City Manager said staff will consider how much additional capacity would be needed to implement and enforce any new ordinance and return with recommendations. No formal vote was taken during the session; council's action was a direction to staff to produce draft ordinance language and an implementation analysis for council review.

Council discussion also flagged deposit assistance as a practical barrier for many voucher holders: staff and council members suggested exploring whether expanding deposit assistance programs or other financial supports could reduce voucher expirations while an ordinance is considered.

Next steps: staff will prepare a draft ordinance and an analysis of enforcement mechanisms, staffing and estimated costs for council consideration at a future meeting.