RESOLUTION NO. 230970
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Sponsor: Mayor Quinton Lucas and Councilperson Melissa Patterson Hazley
RESOLUTION - Directing the City Manager to develop a common application for housing and economic development funds administered by the City and report back to Council within 90 days.
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WHEREAS, the City administers a variety of funds to support housing and economic development, including the Central City Economic Development Sales Tax, the Housing Trust Fund, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and the Community Development Block Grant Program; and
WHEREAS, the demand for each of these funding sources continues to exceed availability, meaning applicants may have to apply multiple times for various funds to be successful; and
WHEREAS, the City has articulated priorities around achieving deep levels of affordability and redevelopment of areas experiencing blight and vacancy with these funds; and
WHEREAS, projects reflecting those priorities often need to layer or "stack" multiple funding sources in order to cover costs; and
WHEREAS, each program currently has its own application but each asks for very similar information; and
WHEREAS, applying for these funds can be costly for applicants, particularly as the applications become more complex; and
WHEREAS, confusion around application requirements can lead to delays in application timelines, which ultimately delay the timely disbursement of funds; and
WHEREAS, this presents an opportunity for a common, standardized application to enable projects to be eligible for multiple funding sources with one application, subject to the review of each program's existing advisory bodies; and
WHEREAS, gathering more standardized information during the application stage can reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and enable more standardized contracting, invoicing, and reporting on the back-end; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
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