Agency: Workforce Services

Line Item: Housing and Community Development

Function

The Division of Housing and Community Development enhances quality of life for Utah citizens through community infrastructure, affordable housing and development programs.

The Division manages a capital budget and provides administrative support and programmatic oversight to many boards and committees.

Statutory Authority

Statutory authority for the Division of Housing and Community Development is provided in UCA 35A-8. The Division's responsibilities are to:

• Assist local government develop and maintain community infrastructure;
• Cooperate with and provide technical assistance to groups related to housing and community development;
• Coordinate development projects with the Governor and state agencies;
• Serve as a clearinghouse for data needed for state, local and federal development projects;
• Study and make recommendations related to community development projects;
• Assist in developing affordable housing and help in addressing the problems of homelessness;
• Provide grants, loans and other forms of public assistance;
• Assist local efforts related to community action programs, planning, development, home weatherization, energy efficiency and anti-poverty projects.

UCA 35A-8-402 establishes the procedure to establish a housing authority when either of the following conditions are present: (1) unsafe dwelling accommodations or (2) a shortage of safe and affordable dwelling accommodations.

Issues/Analysis

Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund

Permanent Community Impact Loan Fund

Related Material

Issue Brief - 2014 General Session - Federal Funds - Department of Workforce Services

Methamphetamine Housing Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Fund

Mineral Lease Account

Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund

Pamela Atkinson Homeless Account

Permanent Community Impact Loan Fund

State Small Business Credit Initiative Program Fund

Funding Detail

For analysis of current budget requests and discussion of issues related to this budget click here.

Program: Community Development Administration

Function

Administration provides leadership, financial management, and data management to Division programs.

Performance

The Division of Housing and Community Development uses as a performance measure the number of division programs that are honored for best practices. These honors generally come from the federal government and local agencies. Results are shown below.

A key division goal is to eliminate chronic homelessness throughout the state. The chart below shows the progress they have made towards this goal.

The Division measures success through a customer service index based on four measures:

1. Number of board meetings and technical assistance provided
2. Number of training sessions for customers
3. Number of projects visited and face-to-face help provided
4. Immediate responses to questions and concerns.

The results of this index are shown below.

Funding Detail

Program: Community Development

Function

The Community Development program administers the federal Community Development Block Grant and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. It also provides staff leadership for and financial management of the Permanent Community Impact Fund and the Uintah Basin Revitalization Fund.

The Community Development Block Grant

The Community Development Block Grant program provides funds to cities or counties with populations of less than 50,000 or 200,000 people respectively. Funds are used for public facilities, infrastructure housing and economic development opportunities. Larger communities get Community Development Block Grant funds directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Community Development Block Grant Policy Committee is made up of elected officials from each of the seven Association of Government offices and provides oversight of the program.

The Community Development Block Grant program and Neighborhood Stabilization Programs are funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The programs are primarily tools for community development to create and maintain a suitable living environment. The programs also have significant economic development components.

Community Development Block Grant has capitalized six regional revolving loan funds in the state and also offers interim loans to eligible businesses.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program is a federal program designed for emergency assistance to purchase and/or redevelop abandoned, foreclosed, or residential properties. The goal is to stabilize communities that have had a lot of foreclosures. State grantees act directly to implement this program.

The Permanent Community Impact Fund

The Permanent Community Impact Fund is defined in the Community Development Capital Program. The program includes administrative funding and costs for staff support and board expenses as well as staff time spent on Federal Mineral Lease and Exchanged Land Mineral Lease receipt analysis.

Funding Detail

Program: Housing Development

Function

The Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund provides funding for acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of the highest quality housing possible at a reasonable cost to insure that low and moderate income residents of the state have access to affordable, safe, decent and sanitary housing. Loans and other financial assistance are made for multiple family rental properties, single family rehabilitation and home ownership assistance and for special needs housing for the homeless. These and other activities assist in improving the availability and quality of housing for low income persons statewide.

Statutory Authority

Statutory Authority for the Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund is found in UCA 35A-8-503 to 508. The statute sets up the requirements for distribution of state and federal funds. Funding is utilized for loans, grants, and education as provided in statute.

Funding Detail

Program: Special Housing

Function

The Special Housing program pays for utilities, building renovations, and leased space for the homeless and those with low incomes. It also provides housing for the chronically mentally ill, disabled homeless, and AIDS victims. All resources are federal funds but only one program, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, is a formula grant. All other funding, including the Shelter Plus Care Program and Rural Development, are competitive grants. The funding is passed through to eligible entities.

Funding Detail

Program: Homeless Committee

Function

The State Homeless Coordinating Committee decides how to use the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund. Some of the funding comes from donations from the Utah State Individual Income Tax form. Programs include Critical Needs Housing, Emergency Solutions Program, the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund, the Homeless Management Information System, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Programs provide statewide funding and a database for coordinating client services to social service agencies for homeless services.

The State Homeless Coordinating Committee was established to facilitate a better understanding of the concept of homelessness in the community and to assist in the allocation of homeless funds received from the state and federal governments. Funds are disbursed in a competitive and/or formula-driven process to private and public non-profit providers of homeless services, local housing authorities, and associations of governments to support efforts to create affordable housing, shelter and support services for homeless individuals and families, and victims of domestic violence. In addition, the Committee is responsible for compiling data and reporting on homeless and poverty trends in Utah, as required by the federal government.

The State Homeless Coordinating Committee provides funds through the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund and other programs to public and non-profit entities that provide services to the homeless, low income, and victims of domestic violence across the state. More than 80 agencies provide services that assist these families and individuals to become self-sufficient. Methods used include, but are not limited to, rental assistance, temporary shelter, transitional housing, case management, and mental health services.

The State Homeless Coordinating Committee also coordinates the State's 10-Year Plan to end chronic homelessness. In concert with the Housing First model, the program coordinates permanent supportive housing with comprehensive integrated services such as mental health counseling, substance abuse counseling, social security issues, veteran's issues, etc. The 10-Year Plan was drafted in 2004 and local implementation continues.

The Committee consists of the following members or their designees as per UCA 35A-8-601:

1. Lieutenant governror
2. State planning coordinator
3. State superintendent of public instruction
4. Chair of the board of trustees of the Utah Housing Corporation
5. Executive director of the Department of Human Services
6. Executive director of the Department of Corrections
7. Executive director of the Department of Workforce Services
8. Executive director of the Department of Health
9. Optional membership at the discretion of the governor
• local governments
• local housing authorities
• local law enforcement agencies
• federal and private agencies and organizations concerned with the homeless
• persons with a mental illness
• elderly
• single-parent families
• substance abusers
• persons with a disability

Funding Detail

Program: HEAT

Function

The federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which also operates under the state title of Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) Program, is a 100 percent federally-funded block grant program used to provide utility assistance to low-income households during the winter months. This program is administered in partnership with local agencies such as the Associations of Government and non-profit agencies.

The Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) program provides the following services:

1. home heating assistance during the winter to low-income, elderly, and disabled households;
2. home weatherization to improve energy efficiency and decrease utility costs for low-income, elderly, and disabled households;
3. utility crisis intervention assistance to low-income, elderly and disabled households to prevent utility services from being disconnected;
4. administration and coordination of the utility moratorium program;
5. certification of eligibility for the Home Electric Lifeline Program and the Low-income Energy Assistance Fund.
1. Home Electric Lifeline Program - monthly discount off Rocky Mountain Power bill. This is funded by a surcharge on Utah clients of Rocky Mountain Power.
2. Low-income Energy Assistance Fun - one-time help with Questar gas bill. This is funded by a surcharge on Utah clients of Questar.

Benefit funds that are unused at the end of the heat season (typically, November through March) can be sub-awarded for home weatherization activity (between 15-25 percent of the total original award).

The Utah Telephone Assistance Program provides low-income families (below 135 percent of the Federal Poverty Level and/or families receiving certain kinds of public assistance) with a discount on their monthly telephone bill and/or an installation rebate. Funding comes from federal funds and a surcharge on landline phone bills of Utah residents. The Utah Public Service Commission provides the administrative funding for this program. UCA 54-8b-15 governs this program.

Funding Detail

Program: Weatherization Assistance

Function

The Weatherization Assistance program helps reduce energy consumption and utility bills for low-income households. Priority is given to the elderly, disabled, families with pre-school age children, those with very high heating bills, and other at-risk households. Utah residents who are below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level are eligible for a one-time non-cash grant to make energy efficient improvements to their homes. In addition to energy efficiency, the program seeks to increase health and safety through heating system improvements and to increase the overall comfort of the occupants. Rental property owners must contribute 30 to 60 percent of the weatherization upgrades.

The Division administers the program through local government and non-profit agencies. Primary funding is made available through the U.S. Department of Energy. Additional funding may come from the HEAT program (Home Energy Assistance Target) if all the money does not go to direct utility benefit payments. Local agencies conduct a computerized energy audit on each home to identify the most cost effective improvements to make. Only improvements that save more money than they cost are undertaken. They then implement a wide variety of improvements including: insulation air leakage testing and sealing, comprehensive heating system evaluations and tune-ups, client education, and electrical base load reduction measures. As a result of weatherization, participating households realize an average annual savings in excess of 30 percent. The Utah Weatherization Program has been very successful in leveraging its appropriation of State funding to gain large amounts of federal, private, and utility funding. Rocky Mountain Power and Questar Gas are contributing financial partners in funding the Weatherization Program.

To meet the demand for energy auditors and weatherization contractors, the program has developed a permanent training center in Clearfield, Utah and has expanded its role as a trainer in weatherization activity.

Funding Detail

Most of the funding for Weatherization is allocated from federal funds and dedicated credit revenues, including significant funding from local utilities. The appropriation is passed through to eligible entities.

The Weatherization Program received a substantial increase in one-time funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was spent by the end of FY 2012.

Program: Community Services

Function

The Community Services Block Grant is a federal formula-based appropriations for community action programs across the state. The community action programs provide local leadership and support to combat the causes, as well as the effects, of poverty. Services provided may include temporary shelter, emergency food, rental assistance, and income tax preparation assistance. Statutory authority for the program is provided in UCA 35-8-1001 to 1009.

There are nine community action programs serving all 29 counties in Utah. Community action programs implement a self-help philosophy through a process of innovative, practical, and timely programs and services that emphasize self-sufficiency while addressing the immediate financial crisis needs of low-income people. Community action programs serve as a catalyst to coordinate efforts, to mobilize resources, and to encourage other organizations to deliver needed services.

Funding Detail

Program: Emergency Food Network

Function

Funding provided to the Emergency Food Network is for distribution to emergency food pantries statewide. The funds assist local food banks and other providers with capacity for storage and distribution of emergency and supplemental nutrition to households in poverty. Emergency food pantries utilize a variety of resources. These are mostly state and local funds leveraged with in-kind resources that include food and volunteer support.

Funding Detail