COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Human Services Agency

Office of Housing

 

DATE:

May 21, 2003

BOARD MEETING DATE:

June 10, 2003

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Maureen Borland, Director, Human Services Agency

Steve Cervantes, Director, Office of Housing

SUBJECT:

Authorization of the submittal of the FYs 2003-04 through 2007-08 County of San Mateo HOME Consortium Consolidated Plan

 

Recommendation

Adopt a Resolution approving the submittal of the Home Consortium of San Mateo County Consolidated Plan to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

 

Background

The Office of Housing is required to submit a Consolidated Plan every five years to HUD. This document serves as an application for funds and a local planning document for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG).

 

The Consolidated Plan will cover the five year period from FY 2003-04 through FY 2007-08. The Plan is submitted on behalf of the HOME Consortium jurisdiction comprised of two CDBG jurisdictions: the Urban County; and, the City of South San Francisco. The Urban County comprises the unincorporated County and 16 small cities: Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Portola Valley, San Bruno, San Carlos and Woodside.

 

Each year the Office of Housing prepares an Action Plan that details the activities that will receive funding from CDBG, HOME and ESG. The Action Plan serves as an annual update to the Consolidated Plan. The Action Plan for the fiscal year 2003-04, the first year of the new five year plan, was approved by the Board of Supervisors on May 6, 2003.

 

The Consolidated Plan contains: information about housing and community development goals; housing and community development needs of lower income County residents; strategies to address the identified needs; an annual action plan with specific performance objectives; and, HUD required certifications.

 

The Consolidated Plan was due to the HUD office on May 15, 2003. The document was submitted to HUD for their review, on May 2, 2003. The Office of Housing is required to publish a notice that the Plan is available for public review and comment thirty days before the Final Plan is submitted to HUD. The public comment period ended May 20, 2003.

 

Discussion

The Office of Housing is one of six jurisdictions in Northern California working with the Region IX office of HUD to pilot a national example of a streamlined consolidated plan. The basic concept of the streamlining is to present all the required data in table format, reduce the amount of narrative and reference primary documents rather than attaching them.

 

The data presented in this document is drawn from: the 2000 Census; the Census and Housing Data Source Book prepared by the San Mateo County Planning Department; Housing Authority documents; and, other County information.

 

The Office of Housing establishes five year goals and performance-objectives based on the above noted data, and incorporates the three statutory goals for low-income residents: 1) decent housing; 2) a suitable living environment; and, 3) expanded economic opportunities. These statutory goals govern the community priorities: 1) provide affordable housing opportunities for lower income individuals and special needs populations; 2) provide a continuum of housing opportunities and supportive housing services for the homeless; and, 3) assist non-housing community development activities that empower lower income and special needs groups. The Five Year Plan incorporates other County efforts that reflect similar goals and objectives.

 

Vision Alignment

The Consolidated Plan keeps the commitments to: Offer a full range of housing choices, and responsive effective and collaborative government; and goals numbers 9 and 20: Housing exists for people at all income levels and for all generations of families: Government decisions are based on careful considerations of future impact, rather than temporary relief or immediate gain.

 

Fiscal Impact

There is no Net County Cost.