2026-09-28 - City Council Workshop

00:00The workshop is called to order. Thank you all very much for attending today.

00:05As a reminder, we don't have public comment at council workshops.

00:09So if anyone has a comment, please fill out a comment card from the table at the

00:12front of the room. The item on the agenda is a presentation on the

00:18Community Development Block Grant program. Mr.

00:22Cameron, please introduce the presentation.

00:25I'm going to turn this over to our Director of Planning, Steve Childers.

00:29Hey, everyone. Thank you very much for having us today.

00:33Steve Childers, Director of Planning and Development.

00:36I'll turn it over to Bob Jones in just a moment.

00:39What you're going to hear today is what we have been doing with our Community

00:43Development Block Grant that we received from HOME as an entitlement city, and

00:49where we're going to go as we move forward with this block grant since we now have

00:53our agreements in place and are moving forward.

00:56So Bob can give you more updates on

00:59that. Bob?

01:03Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council.

01:05It's always good to get a chance to tell you all the things that we've been able to

01:09do with the grant funds we receive from HUD every year.

01:14Two different types, Community Development Block Grant or CDBG, you'll hear that

01:18acronym said a lot today, and HOME is the HOME Investment Partnership agreement.

01:25It's a two-part presentation. The first part, as Steve mentioned, is we're going to

01:30give you a report on what we did last fiscal year that ended in June.

01:34And I want to introduce Senior Planner Angela Durans, who will give you the first

01:38part of the presentation.

01:42Okay. Good morning, everyone.

01:44Good morning.

01:45Morning.

01:45So, housing is a big topic, both nationally and locally.

01:50And so, in the Grants Administration and Affordable Housing Division, housing is

01:56our focus. And so today, we utilize federal grant funds to construct or

02:02rehab affordable housing, and we also have a down payment assistance program to

02:07help low to moderate income homebuyers attain homeownership.

02:11So like Steve and Bob both said, today we will talk to you about the progress that

02:16we've made in fiscal year 2025. We'll tell you about our programs that we

02:21administer using these funds, and also what we plan to work on next.

02:30All right. So the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, otherwise

02:35known as the CAPER, is an end-of-the-year report required by the Department of

02:40Housing and Urban Development. This report shares the progress that we've made,

02:46how we use our funds, and who benefited from those funds.

02:50So since this is just a report that comes at the end of the year, it requires no

02:55action from you all. We just wanted to let you know that this report is out there,

03:00and there's lots of--

03:04This report can also be found on the city's website as well.

03:08Mm-hmm.

03:11So here's a list of the programs that the city is able to administer using CDBG and

03:17HOME funds. The first one is the HELP program.

03:20It is the Homeowner Emergency Loan Program.

03:24And so all of these programs do require income verification to ensure that they

03:29benefit low to moderate income households in Springfield.

03:34So again, the HELP program helps homeowners with critical repairs to their homes.

03:40So that could be a new roof, siding, windows, you name it.

03:44We also have an annual public service grant that goes to nonprofit organizations

03:50to supplement or expand their programs while assisting low to moderate income

03:55households.

03:57And then we also have affordable rental rehabilitation that can be through

04:03private developers, nonprofits, Sherman Avenue PAC, AHAB, to mention a few.

04:10And then lastly, through the CDBG program, we also have the Economic Development

04:14Commercial Business Assistance Loan program.

04:18And so this assists local businesses with working capital, startup, or expansion

04:22costs. And that is through the Economic Vitality and Workforce Development

04:27department.

04:29And so then the second grant that we get every year as an entitlement community is

04:33the HOME grant. So that grant is one of HUD's largest grants, and that is

04:38exclusively for the development of affordable housing.

04:43And so with the HOME program, through the Affordable Rental Construction and Rehab

04:48program, funds are loaned out to developers, and then the amount of

04:54funding that they receive determines how long that house or that unit

05:00is required to be affordable. The maximum amount of affordability period that we

05:05have is 20 years.

05:08And then lastly, the city is able to assist qualified homebuyers, like I said

05:13earlier, with down payment assistance up to $9,000 for closing costs.

05:18This down payment assistance program is available citywide.

05:22More information and an application for that down payment assistance is available

05:26online.

05:31So that CAPER report, again, does a quantitative and qualitative analysis of our

05:36progress that we made the last fiscal year.

05:39And so here are some of those notable outcomes.

05:42Thirty-two owner-occupied homes were rehabbed. That was through our HELP program.

05:48And with the HELP program, I just want to mention that we do partner with four

05:52nonprofit agencies to complete those projects.

05:55And then seven new households became homeowners here in Springfield, and then

06:0112 more affordable rental units were constructed, adding to that 474

06:07number at the very bottom.

06:10So through our programs, the city has 474 rental units

06:16that are required to have tenants that fall within that low to moderate income

06:21range.

06:24That is through our progress.

06:26And so how do we market those affordable rental units?

06:29Every Friday, our office posts this affordable housing vacancy list on the city's

06:35website. It also goes to a list of over 150 contacts here in

06:40Springfield. That includes nonprofits, churches, and really anyone who just wants

06:46to be on that list. And so this chart also shows the income ranges that we are able

06:52to support with this affordable rental program.

06:57Most notably, we have 132 households that fall below that

07:0130% AMI, and then we also have 157 households between 30%

07:07to 50% AMI.

07:10And AMI is area median income.

07:16And then with our CDBG fund, another thing that we are able to do is partner with

07:21nonprofit organizations here in Springfield.

07:26These funds are able to support the nonprofits to expand the types of services and

07:32assistance available to low to moderate income households in Springfield.

07:36So every year, we solicit applications for this annual public service grant.

07:43And so in fiscal year '25, these organizations were able to serve over 5,000

07:48households with CDBG funds. And so that

07:55succeeded our goal by 32% in our annual action plan.

07:59So we originally wanted to serve 3,800, but instead they went above and beyond and

08:04served 5,000.

08:07So you also have a report in your packet that details all of the different things

08:11that agencies were able to do with CDBG funds.

08:15These agencies are all very, very different.

08:18They just have to demonstrate to us that they are serving low to moderate income

08:21households. And so just to name them, we have Casa, Ozarks

08:27Counseling Center, The Kitchen, Harmony House, Big Brother Big Sister, Child

08:32Advocacy Center, Ozarks Food Harvest, Council of Churches, KVC Missouri, Good

08:37Samaritan Boys Ranch, Catholic Charities, FosterAdopt Connect, and then Cranbridge

08:43Credit Counseling. Sorry, they just had a new name.

08:47And then lastly, in partnership with the Workforce Development and Economic

08:52Vitality Department, five businesses were assisted in fiscal year '25,

08:57which resulted in the creation or retainment of 23 full-time

09:03equivalent positions.

09:05This includes loans for equipment, working capital, business expansion, et cetera.

09:11And so that is also marketed on the website quite a bit.

09:16And I'll let Bob Jones finish the rest.

09:21So that's what we did with the money in the past year.

09:23Hope you feel comfortable with what we're spending the money on.

09:28Our plans for the future depend on our funding.

09:32That comes annually with a grant fund that Congress has to allocate to HUD.

09:38That process right now is stalled with Congress, as it has been for several years

09:43in a row. We're under a continuing resolution, so we don't have an actual number

09:48yet for this next fiscal year, which will start next July.

09:53What we do in our planning cycle, though, and you'll see it in a minute, a schedule

09:57about what we do, all the steps we take to get the annual action plan put together

10:03for next year. We base the funding based on an average of what we've been getting

10:08over the recent years. So this gives a picture.

10:11Our current year that we're in right now, CDBG was $1.385 million, and HOME

10:17was a little over $1 million total was allocated.

10:21Those allocations this year were just slightly less than what they were the year

10:26before. CDBG was down 6.9%, and the HOME was down just not even a

10:32half percent less than what we got last year.

10:35So using that as averages, we will plan in advance for the next cycle.

10:44Another thing I'd call your attention to, again, a reminder for most of you,

10:49we've loaned this money. We've gotten this grant money for 30 plus years.

10:54And the people that were here 30 plus years ago decided if you loan it out, you can

10:59get the money in and recycle it and do some more work than you would otherwise.

11:03So our loan program right now, the revenue for last fiscal year was at

11:09$1.3 million from CDBG and 1.2 something for HOME is what

11:15generated. So we're taking in about $2.6 million on the average a year in

11:20income from the loan programs. It basically doubles what our grants are.

11:29Again, the focus is a requirement that we spend the whole money on affordable

11:34housing, and the economic vitality are the CDBG funds are economic

11:40to make viable urban communities. Those are kind of the overall program goals.

11:46HUD has thick notebooks full of regulations that we have to abide by and follow in

11:51all the steps that we take. Again, the focus on all the money that we spend is how

11:57are we helping low to moderate income families or individuals or low to moderate

12:02income business owners, or create jobs for low to moderate income folks.

12:10Now the annual plan, it takes to put together the annual action plan.

12:14This fall in November, we'll start the solicitation with the nonprofit agencies to

12:19put together their proposals. I think last year we had about 18 apply, and we

12:24funded about 12 of them.

12:29The actual

12:32solicitation for proposals goes out to about 100 different organizations scattered.

12:37Any nonprofit that wants to apply can apply for it.

12:42The due date for their proposals will be in December.

12:45And then typically early in January, we invite council to participate when they all

12:50come in and present their five-minute speech of tell us what all you plan to do

12:55with the money. And it's a really interesting time, if you had the opportunity to

12:59be there, to learn some of the different things that the

13:03projects that are actually going on in the city, with or without our money, and

13:09to learn from that. After that, we evaluate the proposals.

13:13Staff evaluates them based on criteria that council has recommended, and we also

13:18have a CACCD, a Community Advisory Committee for Community Development, and that's

13:24a group of citizens that nine citizens,

13:28and what they do is they review all of the process that we use for our HUD funds.

13:34A big part of HUD programs require community involvement, community

13:39participation, community comments.

13:43And so all through this process, communities involved in CACCD provides an avenue

13:48to make sure we have good information coming in and that we follow the procedures

13:55properly. Public knows what the procedures are and that we're following it.

14:00In April, we'll have, hopefully if by that time HUD will have a grant, we'll have

14:04our allocation of the grant money, and we can come to city council with the annual

14:09action plan draft and for council approval, so we can apply for the next year's

14:15round of

14:18grants.

14:22Our fiscal year starts in July, but if the Congress delays too long,

14:28our normal application period has to be submitted May 15th, unless Congress was

14:34late on getting allocation. Sometimes, I think this year we didn't have to submit

14:39until actually June because the Congress was late on getting it to

14:45us. Questions and comments are welcome.

14:48Questions, members of council. Commissioner McColl.

14:50Yeah. I'm just curious on

14:54how many Section 8 vouchers do we get in a given year?

14:58Or do we get any, for that matter?

15:01Okay. Section 8 vouchers go through the Housing Authority of Springfield.

15:06They don't come to the city.

15:08Okay.

15:09I may have a slide showing that. I think we have some information on that up in the

15:15housing authority page.

15:16Yes. So the consolidated plan covers the Public Housing Authority,

15:22too.

15:23Uh-huh.

15:24And I think there's over 1,500 Section 8 vouchers.

15:29It's in here.

15:31Has that number been

15:33the same over the years, or just has that number

15:38fluctuated?

15:40I think

15:41generally in that number every year.

15:44A couple of years because of the

15:48pandemic and some of that things, HUD rolled out some special vouchers.

15:52They called them emergency housing vouchers.

15:54So they got about 100 extra that year for special situations that were developed.

16:00And occasionally they also get what they call VASH vouchers, which are aimed for

16:05veterans only. So those are in addition to the regular.

16:09And I'm just kind of curious about, can we find out, maybe not today, but later,

16:14how we can get more Section 8 vouchers, and what was the past five

16:20years' numbers? Because I kind of feel that when you give an

16:26individual a voucher, that goes and travels with that individual if they're

16:31having... And also HUD does inspections on these houses when you have a Section 8

16:36voucher, as opposed to a person just renting from anybody.

16:41So I kind of like that idea that

16:45the voucher system has some sort of teeth to it.

16:49The landlord has to meet certain HUD regulations.

16:54They have to be inspected, and that individual has the right to move

17:00if the landlord does not fix those

17:03deficiencies or something like that.

17:05So,

17:07I'd like to see how we can get more of the Section 8 vouchers.

17:11We'll talk to Katie Anderson, director over there, and get some information for

17:15you.

17:16All right.

17:16I know in the voucher world,

17:20housing authority's undergoing what they call RAD conversion.

17:23Right.

17:23And that changes them from individual vouchers to project-based vouchers, which the

17:28voucher stays with the unit, not the person.

17:31So it's a different world, but similar.

17:34Well, it changes the dynamics, because if I have the voucher, then I can move, but

17:38if I'm giving it to

17:41the entity, then they have the power.

17:45One thing that I learned from Katie Anderson about the vouchers was, say I get a

17:49voucher for my housing, and I'm living in Springfield, and I decide to move to

17:54Honolulu, Hawaii, I can take the voucher there, and it's charged against the local

18:00housing authority's allocation of money for vouchers, even though I'm living in

18:05some other state. So that's the individual vouchers. It moves with them.

18:09But it gives some flexibility.

18:11It does. It gives some power to them.

18:14Council Member Jensen

18:15Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. You know that I love this kind of stuff.

18:20So just a couple of data requests and then a programmatic question.

18:25So,

18:26on the CAPER, under the first table that's in here, under Goals and Outcomes,

18:32it lists the outcomes, but it doesn't list the dollar amounts that were allocated

18:37to each of these activities. So it's really hard to do an analysis of

18:43where are our dollars going each year to each of these different listed activities,

18:47and then look at the outcomes that they're generating.

18:52And then a similar comment for the public service grant.

18:55It doesn't list the dollar amounts allocated to each of those programs, and some of

19:01them have the outcomes and the narratives, but not all of them.

19:04So, I'd be interested if we could receive that information,

19:10either as an updated CAPER or just an email response.

19:15And then, a programmatic question.

19:18So I've asked about this before, but I've had several meetings with

19:24landlords now in the West Central neighborhood, about the rental inspection

19:29program. I know that rental rehabilitation is an eligible

19:35activity. I really think we need to be considering a link

19:41between the rental inspection program and making assistance

19:46available to property owners to make the necessary repairs to their property in

19:52exchange for continued affordability.

19:55Because what we're looking at are these homes, they're going to have to access

20:00capital to make those repairs to the property, and then they're going to have to

20:04increase the rents, which could displace the tenants.

20:07And so those properties need to be brought up to code, but we have an opportunity

20:12to make sure those units continue to remain affordable.

20:16I think that's a good idea. We'll definitely get with BDS and see if we can't sit

20:22down and have a conversation with them about how that's going so we better

20:25understand that and how to make that link.

20:29Create

20:31a program that would allow for that linkage to occur.

20:34Yeah.

20:35I think it's a good idea.

20:36I'd love to see in the letter that BDS sends to property owners saying, "If you

20:41need assistance, financial assistance with making these repairs-"

20:45Sure.

20:45"... here's a program available to help and ensure you can continue to rent to

20:51the tenants that you're providing housing to."

20:53It's a good idea.

20:54Thank you.

20:55Council Member Hosmer.

20:58Bob, how does Restore SGF fit into this,

21:02things that you guys are doing on the CDBG Modern grant side?

21:05Restore SGF received some Home-ARP funds, which was a special funding that we

21:11got after the pandemic. We've not funded them with this.

21:16They have more flexible on their down payment program because we had other funds

21:21that weren't constrained with income like our HOME funds were.

21:25Is there anything that prevents them from making applications for a fund?

21:30Now, what we've done with Restore SGF, because we have a down payment

21:36program that's limited at the 80% of median income, and theirs allowed them to go

21:41higher, was we had a partnership, I don't call it a partnership, but an agreement.

21:47If they got an applicant whose income was less, they referred them to us.

21:51If we got an applicant that was over, we referred them to them.

21:54So that was about the closest we've had as far as linking with them, but not with

21:59funds.

22:00Is there anything that prohibits them from making application for funding?

22:04No, nothing prohibits it.

22:07And what's the maximum funding that any one entity can get, or is there-

22:11In a nonprofit grant program, the maximum is 24/9,

22:1624,900 per year, is the way we've allocated it.

22:21With regard to the public service grants, HUD restricts the amount to

22:2720% of what our annual grant is for public service.

22:32We can't spend more than that. So,

22:36wait a minute, I got the wrong percentage. 20% is the admin.

22:3915% is the limit of how much we can put in public service grants every year.

22:45That round figure is about $200,000, and that does not include the public service

22:51money we give to One Door to help finance their operations for the homeless.

22:57And what about the HOME program? Could they apply for that as well?

23:03They could if they wanted to rehab a house.

23:07But the way they're trying to sell them to higher income people, it won't qualify

23:12for the HOME program. They're aiming for the workforce priced income levels.

23:19So typically, I don't think that would work for them.

23:23It could if they want to, but their program's designed for that workforce level,

23:28not just the low income and below.

23:32I think that's really where the challenge is for them, is

23:38that their customer is very different than our customer.

23:43HUD says 30% to 80% AMI. Restore is

23:4980% to 120%. They're the workforce. We're the affordable.

23:54So in order for them...

23:57Well, they could apply, but they would have to be below the 80%, and that's not

24:03really who they cater to. So the reason why it worked in the beginning with the

24:07Home-ARP funds was because those restrictions weren't on the Home-ARP funds, and

24:12that's what allowed the city to fund, pretty aggressively, Restore

24:18SGF in the beginning. But with the HUD funds, you have such limitations that,

24:24it's a completely different customer base.

24:32Council Member Lee or Council Member Jenson?

24:33Are you still-

24:34No.

24:35Good. Council Member Lee.

24:36So I am not at all an expert on this, but the way I look at that is they're

24:42more focused on homeownership and getting people that have jobs that just

24:48can't quite afford a home. They're focused on homeownership, and most of these,

24:53while they do have some, most of this is rental.

24:58And so they're really a different focus as far as that goes.

25:02Restore SGF, if you read the comprehensive plan, it talks

25:08a lot about homeownership, and they've tried to make that their niche, is

25:14the-

25:15It does seem like we need to try to do both at the same time, because just focusing

25:19on rental properties is great, but we already have a high rental rate in the city,

25:25and getting higher. I think homeownership is something that reduces our social

25:30service costs and helps the city

25:34everywhere it is. So I think it's something we have to do both. And I think...

25:41Council Member Horton.

25:42Thank you. I always like to add to the conversation, especially when we're talking

25:46about the West Central neighborhood, and we spoke of the rental property

25:50inspection, and we just spoke of the possibility of properties

25:56being eligible for the rehab funds, is that city council

26:02already approved a certain geographical area for property tax abatement

26:08for individual single family homes as well.

26:11And so that's another type of funding stack, I guess you could say,

26:17that homeowners that are rehabbing near the Grand Avenue Parkway area to be

26:23able to benefit from that to get their properties up and going as well.

26:30Council Member Hosmer.

26:31Bob, just another question. On the revenue we have from the revolving loan, are we

26:37under the same restrictions for how we use those dollars?

26:39Same restrictions.

26:40So it still has to meet the-

26:43Has to meet the same guidelines.

26:47Any other questions? Thank you so much for the presentation.

26:53This concludes the workshop. We will now go into the special council meeting.

26:58Do you want to take a break here? Okay.

27:02Then we will go into the special council meeting.

27:04This meeting is now called to order. Ms. Cotter, please call the roll.

27:09Hosmer?

27:10Here.

27:10McGoldrick?

27:11Here.

27:12Horton?

27:13Here.

27:13Jensen?

27:14Here.

27:14Hardinger? Harrell?

27:16Aye.

27:18Lee?

27:18Aye.

27:21Aladazi?

27:22Here.

27:22Schroff?

27:23Here. Mr. Hosmer, do you have a motion?

27:26I do. I move city council to hold a closed meeting to discuss legal actions, causes

27:30of action, litigation involving a public governmental body.

27:33Any confidential written communications between a public governmental body, its

27:36attorneys, pursuant to Section 16O-21 (1) , and leasing, purchase or sale of real

27:41estate by a public governmental body, where public knowledge of the transaction may

27:45adversely affect the negotiations therefore, pursuant to Section 16O-21 (2) .

27:49And this being a record vote, motion to close the city council's executive session.

27:53Is there a second?

27:55Second.

27:55We have a second. Ms. Cotter, please call the roll.

27:58McGoldrick?

27:59Aye.

28:00Horton?

28:02Jensen?

28:03Aye.

28:04Hardinger? Harrell?

28:06Aye.

28:06Lee?

28:07Here.

28:08Aladazi?

28:09Aye.

28:11Hosmer?

28:12Aye.

28:12Schroff?

28:13Aye. Do you