Rental relief for COVID, 2015 flood grants repurposed
The San Marcos City Council unanimously approved the reallocation of funds for two different Community Development Block Grants. These are grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and are designed to assist with a variety of housing- related disasters the city has faced in recent years.
The first grant allocation approved, CDBG-CV, reallocates funding from the 2019 CDBG Action Plan for a new rental assistance program for Hays County to be administered through the Blanco River Regional Recovery Team. The CDBG-CV grant is intended to help governmental entities prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19. This is the sixth amendment to the Action Plan and it will utilize the money remaining in the Community Development Block Grant dedicated to Coronavirus Response.
BR3T previously partnered with the City of San Marcos and Community Action to create and administer a rent, mortgage and utility relief program called the Emergency Rental Assistance 2 Housing Stability Services Program from the previous round three CDBG-CV, with a funding amount of over $500,000.
The new program will receive $188,442.85 in funds reallocated from the completed ReviveSMTX program, obsolete COVID-19 testing funding and from General Administration funds. This program will use the ERA2 HSS criteria to screen potential applicants, and that includes serving low to moderate income individuals, tying in the needs of the individuals to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The screening process itself will includes submitting an application, income information and a statement about the effect of the pandemic on the applicant's living situation.
If accepted, BR3T would provide the first month’s rent for new renters and one month's rent for renters facing eviction, as well as utility assistance as long as it does not duplicate any existing assistance.
The previous program, ERA2 HSS, provided rent and utility deposits and fees as well as hotel stays, but it did not provide payment for rent and utilities. While the amendment was adopted on Feb. 7, the city is now working with BR3T to create a contract for the Rent and Utility Bill Relief Program that clarifies the program procedures.
The second CDBG that was subjected to a fiscal amendment was the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery Action Plan. This action plan was originally created to summarize the impact of the 2015 Memorial Day and All Saints floods, which included analysis and descriptions of required projects and funding allocations for the $33,794,000 grant received from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Substantial Amendment Number 13 canceled two activities and reallocated certain project funding to the Midtown Aquarena Springs Project.
The purpose of the program here is to address flooding issues within the Midtown neighborhood, alleviate “ponding” in major city intersections and thoroughfares, improve conveyances needed in the regional channel for major storm events, and to help stabilize bank erosion along the Blanco River. This project is slated to begin now, and is expected to end in March 2024.
The Midtown project has been amended 12 times previously, each time moving more than $1 million between projects. Amendment 13 updates Appendix I Flood Recovery Expenditure Projects and proposes the cancellation of the Single Family Owner Occupied Reimbursement housing activity and Rental Unit Rehabilitation and Reconstruction activity due to infeasible implementation, which makes $1,659,013 available for the Midtown Project.
According to a presentation given to the city council, the Single Family Owner Occupied Reimbursement housing activity was considered infeasible due to the HUD requirements that state an individual’s income must currently be less than 80% of the area median income, must meet all CDBG requirements, must provide proof that the repair was completed before October 2016, and must be able to demonstrate that the repair was needed. This program reimbursed repairs up to $50,000. The Rental Unit Rehabilitation and Reconstruction was deemed infeasible after no applications were submitted that met the requirements of the program. Some obstacles the city faced while trying to implement this program were that the coverage was only for the floodplain instead of the entire city, it was only for repairs not yet completed while the program was marketed in the years 2017-2019, and owners needing to prove that the damage was from the 2015 floods.
The funds from the completed Public Housing Authority activity provided $1884.16 to the project. The Uhland Road and Blanco Riverine infrastructure projects also saw budget cuts. This was in part because funding is available through a different Community Development Block Grant - Mitigation, which allowed a sum of $787,650 to be reallocated to the Midtown project. This reallocation of funds became available for use after its approval on Feb. 7.
The grant project is still in its implementation and amending stage, meaning there may still be changes to come for the Disaster Recovery Action Plan.
For now, the CDBG for the 2015 flood can expect to receive approximately $2,448,547 to further prepare the city for future natural or man-made disasters. For further information regarding these two amendments, please visit the San Marcos Planning and Development Services website.
The purpose of the Midtown Aquarena Springs Project is to address flooding issues within the Midtown neighborhood, alleviate “ponding” in major city intersections and thoroughfares, improve conveyances needed in the regional channel for major storm events and to help stabilize bank erosion along the Blanco River. This project is slated to begin now, and is expected to end in March 2024.
