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12 <br /> 1 Mitigation and Housing Displacement Fund to provide flexible, much-needed financial <br /> 2 assistance to low-income renters experiencing housing instability and also provide additional <br /> 3 resources for Orange County's emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. <br /> 4 <br /> 5 Travis Myren presented the following item: <br /> 6 <br /> 7 BACKGROUND: <br /> 8 In June 2018, the Board of Commissioners approved an initial appropriation for a new local <br /> 9 voucher program —the Orange County Local Rent Supplement Program (OCLRSP). <br /> 10 Guidelines for this program were presented to the Board in November 2018 (Attachment 1) and <br /> 11 approved in December 2018. <br /> 12 <br /> 13 Although the OC-LRSP was envisioned as a flexible program to help provide financial <br /> 14 assistance to low-income renters in need of stable housing, the guidelines as initially proposed <br /> 15 mirror the federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, and as such, do not have the <br /> 16 necessary flexibility to meet the needs of renters unable to be served by the HCV program. <br /> 17 <br /> 18 Furthermore, the OC-LRSP was proposed to have ongoing funding from federal HOME funds, <br /> 19 but the federal restrictions on these funds make them incompatible with the program and were <br /> 20 not able to be leveraged. Of the 15 people anticipated to be served by the 2018 appropriation, <br /> 21 only one person has actually been issued a voucher. This person is currently homeless <br /> 22 (sheltered), as the individual has not been able to find a unit. <br /> 23 <br /> 24 Furthermore, Orange County is now seeing an increase in the number of residents experiencing <br /> 25 housing instability due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is a need for increased funding for <br /> 26 housing assistance as part of the emergency response. <br /> 27 <br /> 28 As such, Orange County Housing and Community Development (OCHCD) proposes to <br /> 29 effectively dissolve the OC-LRSP and transfer the balance of funds in that program to the Risk <br /> 30 Mitigation and Housing Displacement Fund (Attachment 2). This will provide the flexibility <br /> 31 needed to meet the housing needs of low-income renters, as the Risk Mitigation and Housing <br /> 32 Displacement Fund can provide various types of assistance including security deposits, utility <br /> 33 connections, first month's rent, and emergency housing costs. <br /> 34 <br /> 35 FINANCIAL IMPACT: There will be no financial impact to the County if the BOCC approves the <br /> 36 amendment. These funds have already been appropriated, and this budget amendment <br /> 37 provides for the transfer of$100,000 from the Local Voucher Program, currently budgeted in the <br /> 38 General Fund, to the Risk Mitigation and Housing Displacement Program within the Housing <br /> 39 and Community Development Fund to allow these funds to be disbursed to help low-income <br /> 40 households in need. <br /> 41 <br /> 42 Travis Myren made the following PowerPoint presentation: <br /> 43 <br /> 44 Transfer of Funds from Local Rent Supplement to Housing Stabilization Program <br /> 45 Board of Orange County Commissioners <br /> 46 April 7, 2020 <br /> 47 <br /> 48 Housing Stabilization Transfer <br /> 49 Local Rent Supplement/Local Voucher Program <br /> 50 o Originally Approved in 2018 <br /> 51 o Annual Funding of$100,000 <br />