City Council Study Session Summary 2012 04 24

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City Council Study Session Summary April 24, 2012 Page 2 of 7 Update /Discussion — Louisville Housing Authority (LHA) Portfolio Analysis and Consideration of LHA Consolidation with Boulder County Housing Authority Members of the Louisville Housing Authority, Frank Alexander, Director of Boulder County's Housing and Human Services Division, and Steve Clark of SB Clark and Associates were present for tonight's discussion. The LHA is seeking Council support for the consolidation of the Louisville Housing Authority's (LHA) assets into the Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA), and to get Council feedback on this concept. The LHA will seek support and direction from City Council at the May 15, 2012 regular City Council Meeting. Terri Abbott, Chair of the LHA, spoke about her seven years with the Authority and the long- standing relationship with the County. Louisville has 116 wonderful properties that BCHA manages and maintains for Louisville, but how do we meet the demand for the next 20 years? Over the past year, the Authority has been working on a review of their financial portfolio with financial consultant, Steve Clark. Frank Alexander spoke next, who has been with the County for 14 years, and has been Director since late 2003. The LHA and BCHA have had an ongoing conversation about consolidating the County's 500 properties with the 116 properties owned by the LHA. This proposed consolidation would allow for greater efficiency and use of resources. Two of the Louisville properties, Regal Square and Regal Court, have a good amount of debt that is coming due in the next one to two years which is also driving this conversation of consolidation. The comments /questions by Council during the discussion were as follows: • How does the Housing Authority operate? Is there a contract that obligates Boulder County to provide services? Director, Frank Alexander replied that housing authorities are separate entities and they operate as enterprise funds. There are no County and City taxes that are used to fund the Authority. The County is currently operating under a short term contract with the Louisville Housing Authority. There are also Section 8 grants available to fund improvements. • How does Lafayette manage their affordable housing? The City of Lafayette does not have their own housing authority. There are currently 200 units available in Lafayette and two projects underway that will bring approximately 150 more units to the City of Lafayette. No governance seat currently exists for Lafayette on the Boulder County Housing and Human Services Advisory Board.