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Approve and adopt updates to the Solano County Housing Authority Administrative Plan
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management recommends that the Solano County Housing Authority (SCHA) approve and adopt updates to the Solano County Housing Authority Administrative Plan.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The SCHA is required to prepare and adopt an Administrative Plan for implementing its Section 8 Program. The purpose of the Administrative Plan is to establish policies for carrying out the Housing Choice Voucher program in a manner consistent with Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements and the local goals and objectives in the Agency Plan.
HUD issues program regulations that Housing Authorities must follow, but also allows the housing authorities to establish local policies through their Administrative Plans. The SCHA periodically updates the Administrative Plan as regulations and other circumstances change, as new programs are added or when clarification of an existing policy is needed. The Administrative Plan was last updated in 2015. Vacaville Housing Authority staff is contracted to administer the County’s program on its behalf, which includes submitting the Annual Agency Plan to HUD and to recommend revisions to the Administrative Plan.
Proposed Revisions
HUD has made additional regulatory changes. HUD now permits Housing Authorities to streamline the annual program eligibility re-certification process for some program participants. In order to implement this change, the SCHA must revise its Administrative Plan as follows to incorporate the change:
The SCHA will conduct a full program eligibility re-certification every three years instead of every year for participant households that receive 90 percent or more of their income from fixed-income sources (Social Security and Social Security Disability benefits, pensions, annuities, disability or death benefits, and other sources of income subject to a cost of living adjustment or rate of interest). A streamlined program eligibility re-certification will be conducted in years one and two.
Approximately 157 families (64%) in the SCHA program receive 90 percent or more of their income from fixed-income sources. Many of these households are elderly and/or disabled. Approving this change to the re-certification process will result in time savings in the administrative tasks conducted by the SCHA, eliminate the need for these households to attend an office interview, and eliminate submittal of documentation of information that is typically already available to the SCHA through HUD database sources.
Attachment 1 is the revised portion of Chapter 11 Reexaminations of the SCHA Administrative Plan. If approved by the Housing Authority Board, the revised will be submitted to HUD as required. Staff would then begin the process of applying the streamlining practice for eligible households.
A full interview and reexamination of a fixed income household’s eligibility will be conducted every 3 years.
Public Noticing Requirement: Public notice is not required.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The Housing Authority program is financed through HUD.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Housing Authority may choose to take no action to update the Administrative Plan. This action is not recommended because the proposed revisions establish a streamlined recertification process, providing a benefit to both SCHA staff and to tenants in need of assistance.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Vacaville Housing Authority, on behalf of Solano County, prepared the revisions to the Administrative Plan. The County Administrator and County Counsel have reviewed this item and concur with the recommended action.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION