Title
Authorizing the City to transfer $20,000,000 of American Rescue Plan funds to a specific account for 30 Percent Area Median Income Deeply Affordable Housing.
Body
WHEREAS, since the first case of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was discovered in the United States in January 2020, the disease has infected over 35 million and killed over 750,000 Americans and impacted every part of life; and
WHEREAS, both the public health and economic impacts of the pandemic have fallen most severely on communities and populations disadvantaged before it began; and
WHEREAS, amid this crisis the City of Saint Paul (the City) has been called on to respond at an immense scale; and
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law by the President of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the ARPA established the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, intended to provide support to local governments in responding to the impact of COVID-19 and in their efforts to contain COVID-19 in communities, residents, and businesses; and
WHEREAS, from the Local Fiscal Recovery Fund the U.S. Department of Treasury is distributing $45.8 billion to metropolitan cities, of which the City’s allocation totals $166,641,623; and
WHEREAS, in May 2021, the City received the first half of its ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Fund allocation of $83,320,812; and
WHEREAS, according to the ARPA, the Local Fiscal Recovery funds may be used for the following expenses and must be obligated by December 31, 2024 and spent by December 31, 2026:
1) To respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel, and hospitality;
2) To respond to workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 public health emergency by providing premium pay to eligible workers;
3) For the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to the COVID-19 public health emergency relative to revenues collected in the most recent full fiscal year prior to the emergency; and
4) To make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Community partners’ visioning and planning emphasized the dire need for deeply affordable housing, with a variety of unit size mixes, and was communicated to City staff throughout extensive community outreach efforts; and
WHEREAS, The City of Saint Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development will implement a dual approach solicitation process for awarding ARPA funding that will ensure the rapid provision of deeply affordable units within “pipeline” projects ready for closing in 2022, and will provide for funding projects with longer time horizons; and
WHEREAS, to facilitate its response to the public health emergency and its negative economic impacts, the City identified the following need that meets the ARPA eligibility criteria, for a total of $20,000,000:
1) PED 30 Percent Area Median Income Deeply Affordable Housing: $20,000,000
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 10.07.4 of the City Charter, the Mayor recommends the transfer of unencumbered ARPA appropriations between departments as outlined in the attached financial analysis, which is consistent with the City’s plan to shift ARPA funds to project-specific accounts for spending; now therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the City Council of Saint Paul does hereby authorize the City to transfer $20,000,000 from the ARPA holding account to project-specific accounts as outlined in the attached financial analysis.
Financial Analysis
See attachment.