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1 <br /> ORD-2020-008 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: April 7, 2020 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-d <br /> SUBJECT: Approval of Budget Amendment #7-A for the Transfer of Funds from the Orange <br /> County Local Rent Supplement Program to the Risk Mitigation and Housing <br /> Displacement Fund <br /> DEPARTMENT: Housing and Community <br /> Development <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Attachment 1: Excerpt from November 8, Emila Sutton, Director, Housing and <br /> 2018 Board of Community Development, (919) 245- <br /> Commissioners Meeting 2490 <br /> Minutes <br /> Attachment 2: Risk Mitigation and Housing <br /> Displacement Fund Policy <br /> PURPOSE: To approve Budget Amendment #7-A for the transfer of funds from the Orange <br /> County Local Rent Supplement Program (Local Vouchers) to the Risk Mitigation and Housing <br /> Displacement Fund to provide flexible, much-needed financial assistance to low-income renters <br /> experiencing housing instability and also provide additional resources for Orange County's <br /> emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. <br /> BACKGROUND: In June 2018, the Board of Commissioners approved an initial appropriation <br /> for a new local voucher program — the Orange County Local Rent Supplement Program (OC- <br /> LRSP). Guidelines for this program were presented to the Board in November 2018 (Attachment <br /> 1) and approved in December 2018. <br /> Although the OC-LRSP was envisioned as a flexible program to help provide financial assistance <br /> to low-income renters in need of stable housing, the guidelines as initially proposed mirror the <br /> federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, and as such, do not have the necessary <br /> flexibility to meet the needs of renters unable to be served by the HCV program. Furthmore, the <br /> OC-LRSP was proposed to have ongoing funding from federal HOME funds, but the federal <br /> restrictions on these funds make them incompatible with the program and were not able to be <br /> leveraged. Of the 15 people anticipated to be served by the 2018 appropriation, only one person <br /> has actually been issued a voucher. This person is currently homeless (sheltered), as the <br /> individual has not been able to find a unit. <br />