Pasadena’s Housing Department Wants to Amend Spending Plan for Permanent Local Housing Allocation Grant Funds

Pasadena’s Department of Housing is asking the City Council to adopt a resolution on Monday authorizing an amended five-year plan for spending the City’s grant award of funds under the state’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) program.

The PHLA program, launched through Senate Bill 2, allocates a portion of the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund to local governments for eligible housing and homelessness activities.

These funds, when used locally, can provide and preserve affordable housing for very low, low, moderate, and workforce income households in Pasadena.

A Department of Housing report for the City Council meeting said the City of Pasadena is considered an “Entitlement” local government under the program, which means its PLHA funding is directly proportionate to its share of 2017 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding.

As an Entitlement local government, Pasadena is eligible for $936,076 in funding for 2019 and 2020, and for an estimated total five-year allocation of $5.62 million.

The City submitted an application to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for PLHA funding in July 2020, and HCD issued a notification approving the City’s award in February 2021.

As part of the initial application, Pasadena submitted a five-year plan which allocates the PLHA funding to Permanent Supportive Housing Operating Reserves, Workforce Homebuyer Assistance, Short Term Rental Assistance and the ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) Program.

After receiving notification of award approval from HCD, the Housing Department saw a need to reassess the original funding allocation in the five-year plan. In particular, it saw the need to fund the ADU pilot program at a much higher level than previously approved. Funding for the Short Term Rental Assistance program and the Workforce Homebuyer Assistance program has to be reduced because other funding sources were available.

With these changes, the estimated allocations will be $2,759,728 (about 49 percent) for the ADU Pilot Program, $1.4 million (25 percent) for Workforce Homebuyer Assistance, $675,914 (12 percent) for Permanent Supportive Housing Operating Reserves, and $500,000 (9 percent) for the Short Term Rental Assistance program. Five percent of the funding, or $280,823, will be allocated for administrative expenses.

Once the City Council vote to pass the proposed resolution, these allocations, and other required documentation, will be submitted to the HCD as part of the requirements for release of the funding.