Explanation
BACKGROUND
This ordinance authorizes the Director of the Department of Development modify a subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC to add additional funding in an amount up to $80,450.00 and to extend the contract until December to continue to act as the Application Manager for recipients as part of the department’s ERA2 Investment Strategy. This modification is needed as funds are being expended at an increasing rate and are needed to continue to provide rental and utility assistance to residents in the area as well as support the non-profits that process the intake of the ERA2 applications and declare an emergency. The current contract expires September 30, 2025 the additional funding will be expended prior to that date.
Original Agreement $1,750,000.00 Ord. 1577-2023 PO396840
Modification No. 1 $1,250,000.00 Ord. 2753-2023 PO421329
Modification No. 2 $ 0.00 Ord.2778-2024
Modification No. 3 $ 252,862.75 Ord. 1995-2025 PO522928
Modification No. 4 $ 80,450.00
Total $3,333,312.75
Ordinance No. 2275-2023 authorized the City of Columbus to accept and appropriate up to $90,537,806.23 of Federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) program funds, as passed by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
Ordinance No. 1577-2023, which was approved on June 12, 2023 by council authorized the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC in an amount up to $1,750,000.00 of U.S. Department of Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance 2 (ERA2) funds. This authorization allowed Greenwood 360 LLC to act as the Application Manager for recipients as part of the department’s ERA2 Investment Strategy with a start date of June 1, 2023 and waived the competitive bidding requirements in Columbus City Code Chapter 329.
Ordinance No. 2753-2023, which was approved on October 16, 2023 by council authorized the Director of the Department of Development to modify the subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC to increase funding in an amount up to $1,250,000.00 of U.S. Department of Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance 2 (ERA2) funds.
Ordinance No. 2778-2024 which was approved on October 21, 2024 by council authorized the Director of the Department of Development to modify the subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC to update and modify the scope of service to reflect that the reimbursement will be based on a per application basis and that all other aspects of the contract still remained the same.
Ordinance No. 1995-2025 which was approved on July 28,2025 by council authorized the Director of the Department of Development to modify the subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC to increase funding in an amount up to $252,862.75.
Greenwood 360 LLC will continue to manage a program to provide rental and utility assistance to residents in the local area who qualify for the assistance as provided in the laws and regulations and other current guidance provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Greenwood 360 LLC will work collaboratively to implement a plan to distribute ERA funds to eligible tenants with the Wells Foundation which will be processing payments and handling fiscal management of the program. All aspects of the contract and previous modifications will still be in effect with this modification; this ordinance will only be authorizing the increase in funding to utilize the ERA2 funding for administrative purposes with the non-profit organizations that do the intake for ERA applications. This modification is planned as this is needed to utilize the remaining funding of the ERA2 dollars to better serve the needs of the community.
Emergency Designation: An emergency exists as it is immediately necessary to modify this agreement to assure that the funding is in place to continue to further assist tenants facing housing instability, eviction, and potential homelessness and those non-profit organizations that provide intake/administrative support for ERA applications.
Contract Compliance: the vendor number is 039806 and expires 07/10/2027.
Fiscal Impact: $80,450.00 is available within the ERA2 budget.
Title
To authorize the Director of the Department of Development modify a subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC to add additional funding in an amount up to $80,450.00; to continue to act as the Application Manager for recipients as part of the department’s ERA2 Investment Strategy and provide support for the non-profits that process the intake for ERA2 applications; and declare an emergency. ($80,450.00)
Body
WHEREAS, the Director of the Department of Development entered into a subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC; and
WHEREAS, Greenwood 360 LLC is acting as the Application Manager for recipients as part of the department’s ERA2 Investment Strategy; and
WHEREAS, funds from the original contract and subsequent modifications are being expended quickly due to the high need in the community for emergency rental assistance; and
WHEREAS, the expenditure in an amount up to $80,450.00 is needed to provide additional funding and this was a foreseen modification as this will help to utilize some of the remaining ERA2 funding to continue to provide assistance and support the non-profits that help to provide intake for ERA2 applications; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the daily operation of the Department of Development in that it is necessary to modify the subrecipient agreement to increase funding in order to continue to provide emergency rental assistance for tenants facing housing instability, eviction, and potential homelessness and support the non-profits for their administrative time for processing the intake of applications as such immediate action is necessary for the preservation of the public health, peace, property, safety and welfare NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the Director of the Department of Development is hereby authorized to modify a subrecipient agreement with Greenwood 360 LLC, to update to add additional funds, in an amount up to $80,450.00 to pay for emergency rental assistance.
SECTION 2. That the expenditure in an amount up to $80,450.00 or so much thereof as may be needed is hereby authorized within Fund 2208 (Emergency Rental Assistance Fund), from Dept-Div 44-10 (Housing), object class 03 (Services) per the account codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 3. That the City Auditor is authorized to make any accounting changes to revise the funding source for all contracts or contract modifications associated with this ordinance.
SECTION 4. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure which shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes it.