Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the Director of Development to enter into a subrecipient agreement with the Columbus Urban League (CUL) in an amount up to $3,000,000.00 of federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds to provide rental and utility assistance for expenses starting March 13, 2020.
Ordinance 0284-2021 authorized the City of Columbus to accept and appropriate $26,822,803.20 of federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program funds, as passed by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Of this amount, $3,000,000.00 will be used for a subrecipient agreement with CUL to provide rental and utility assistance (as defined by U. S. Treasury) to qualifying residents of the local community for up to 12 months plus an additional three months, if necessary, to ensure housing stability.
In this subrecipient agreement, at least 60% of the funding will support households with an AMI at 50% or below and/or have a member of the household who has been unemployed for 90 days; up to 40% of the funding can be used for households with an AMI at 80% or below; and 10% of the funding will be utilized for Administrative costs.
CUL will 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 regulations and other current guidance provided by the U. S. Department of Treasury. It is expected that the guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury will be modified while this subrecipient agreement is in effect and it is requested that the Director of Development be given the authority to modify the scope of services and/or terms and conditions subrecipient agreement without seeking additional Council Approval in order to align with the most current version of the laws, regulations, and guidance.
The mission of the CUL is to empower African Americans and disenfranchised groups through economic, educational, and social progress. The CUL is a customer-driven organizat...
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