LEGISLATIVE ACTION ITEM
SPONSOR: Grover C. Robinson, IV, Mayor
SUBJECT:
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HOMELESSNESS REDUCTION PROPOSALS FOR AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) FUNDING
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RECOMMENDATION:
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That City Council accept the Homelessness Reduction Task Force ranking recommendations and approve the distribution of $2,575,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds based on the provided rankings. Further, that City Council authorize the Mayor to set aside $425,000 for a future distribution to the Lotus Campaign.
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HEARING REQUIRED: No Hearing Required
SUMMARY:
Action on this item was postponed, with a subsequent meeting date of December 1, 2021 being set for Council to reconvene and take up this legislative action item.
The Homelessness Reduction Taskforce is made of a group of more than 200 individuals, many of whom are experts in the field of reducing homelessness and all with a desire to see this problem addressed. The Taskforce seeks to address the homeless problem by forming a community partnership to better streamline services and align resources so that partners can better provide housing, behavioral services, legal services, food resources and employment connectivity.
City Council has appropriated $3,000,000 for homelessness reduction. The Mayor is requesting that $425,000 of this amount be set aside for the Lotus campaign leaving $2,575,000 for distribution. To assist the City with the distribution of these funds, the Taskforce solicited proposals from any group with projects addressing homelessness in Pensacola but were lacking funding to accomplish their mission. The Taskforce then met in the sunshine on October 29th to review and rank the proposals.
Additionally, the federal government requires any sub-recipient of federal dollars undergo a risk assessment to gauge the organization’s financial ability to handle these monies. City staff has attempted to perform risk assessments on all organizations and scored them low, medium, and high. A low ranking means that the organization is at a low level of risk for handling and spending federal funds. A medium risk ranking means the organization has a medium risk level that can be mitigated with additional reporting requirements. A high-risk ranking means that either the project or the organization is at a high risk for expending funds, and/or the project is at a high risk of future liability and funding responsibility for the City.
The Taskforce’s ranking, along with staff’s risk assessment and a compendium of notes and opinions from taskforce members is included as backup.
PRIOR ACTION:
August 12, 2021 - City Council appropriated $3,000,000 of ARPA funds for homelessness reduction.
FUNDING:
Budget: $ 3,000.000
Actual: $ 2,575,000 Homelessness Reduction Task Force Recommendations
425,000 Lotus Campaign
$ 3,000,000
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding in the amount of $3,000,000 has been appropriated from ARPA funds to address homelessness. Upon City Council approval, Miscellaneous Appropriation Agreements will be prepared with each organization.
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STAFF CONTACT:
Kerrith Fiddler, City Administrator
Amy Miller, Deputy City Administrator - Administration & Enterprise
Amy Lovoy, Finance Director
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Homelessness Proposals 1111021
2) Sample Scoring Sheet
3) ARPA Proposals Scored on 102821
4) ARPA Proposals Ranking Notes
PRESENTATION: No end