Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the amendment of Ordinance No. 1569-2023, passed by Columbus City Council on June 12, 2023, to authorize the modification of the grant agreement, to allow for an increase in the advance amount that was originally established, and to declare an emergency.
Ordinance No. 1569-2023, passed by Columbus City Council on June 12, 2023, authorized the Director of the Department of Development to execute a grant agreement with the Tony R Wells Foundation to provide rental, utility, and other assistance to residents in the Columbus metropolitan area affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ordinance states that advances will be paid in increments of $2,000,000.00 at a time, and that when $1,200,000.00 has been disbursed, the Wells Foundation can request another advancement.
Due to expedited process that has been created for the ERA program as well as the record high number of eviction filings, the City is issuing a much higher volume of assistance payments on a weekly basis than was anticipated when the original contract was established. In order to ensure that we can continue to help residents avoid eviction and make payments to landlords in a timely manner, it is necessary to increase the advance amount that was established in the original contract. When the grantee has disbursed at least $1,000,000.00 in payments (originally $1,200,000.00) they may request the next advance which is being adjusted to $4,000,000.00 per advance (originally $2,000,000.00). The City has established ACH payments with this vendor to ensure that funds are transferred quickly and there is minimal disruption of payments.
Emergency action is requested to increase the advance amount in the contract which in turn provides funding to eligible recipients who are in immediate need of financial support to prevent eviction or loss of utilities. The eviction and housing instability rate has reached historic levels therefore the immediate interventi...
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