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Home My WebLink AboutFY 2024 (Housing Agency) Budget Narrative KAUA‘I COUNTY HOUSING AGENCY FY 2024 BUDGET AND OPERATIONS SYNOPSIS Adam Roversi Director 2 Department: HOUSING AGENCY Fund: GENERAL FUND 1. FY 2023 to FY 2024 BUDGET COMPARSION FY 2023 FY 2024 $ + / - % + / - Salary and Wages 736,317 842,537 106,220 14.4% Benefits 439,912 484,500 44,588 10.1% Utilities 0 0 0 0.0% Vehicle/Equip, Lease 2 2 0 0.0% Operations 234,362 246,546 12,184 5.2% 1,410,593 1,573,585 162,992 11.6% 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000 Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations FY 2023 and FY 2024 Comparison FY 2023 FY 2024 52%31% 0% 0% 17% FY 2023 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations 53%31% 0% 0% 16% FY 2024 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations 3 Department: HOUSING AGENCY Fund: REVOLVING FUND FY 2023 FY 2024 $ + / - % + / - Salary and Wages 0 0 0 0.0% Benefits 0 0 0 0.0% Utilities 0 0 0 0.0% Vehicle/Equip, Lease 0 0 0 0.0% Operations 3,929,286 17,799,928 13,870,642 353.0% 3,929,286 17,799,928 13,870,642 353.0% 0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 14,000,000 16,000,000 18,000,000 20,000,000 Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations FY 2023 and FY 2024 Comparison FY 2023 FY 2024 0% 100% FY 2023 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations 0% 100% FY 2024 Operating Budget Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations 4 2. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN OPERATIONS BUDGET For FY24 we are projecting a $106,220 or 14.4% increase in salary and wages and an increase in operations of $12,184 or 5.2%. The increase in salary and wages is due primarily to across-the-board salary increases for union positions. It is worth noting that more than 50% of the Housing Agency’s personnel budget is paid by non-County sources of funds. The increase in operations is primary due to an increase in the staff training budget. During the Covid-19 emergency, training was largely placed on hold. With the end of the Covid and the filling of most vacancies, we feel it is imperative for the success of the Agency to boost training to ensure all staff are prepared and able to confidently administer their respective programs. 3. OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES Our two primary operational challenges are the administration of increasingly complex and layered sources of funding necessary to successfully complete numerous large scale development projects simultaneously, and the successful administration of the federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. Historically, the Housing Agency focused its development efforts on one relatively small development project each year targeting project sites that required little in the way of complex infrastructure. With the Lima Ola Workforce Housing Project, the Housing Agency shifted into the business of organizing and implementing significantly more complex development projects requiring large scale infrastructure development. As we continue into Phase II of Lima Ola, and work to begin similar master planned developments in both Waimea and Kīlauea, we will be required to manage increasingly complex workflows and diverse funding sources. Regarding the HCV program, in FY23 we continued to serve a record number of around 900 participants, a program increase realized in 2022 after previously serving an annual average around 650 clients in prior years. The increased number of participants, though a benefit to our community and a program success, has met numerous obstacles with the limited number of units available to participants. With the Housing Navigator/Landlord Engagement Program launched in 2022, we intend to establish a link between landlords and property managers with potential rental units and households experiencing the challenges of finding and securing safe housing. It is our hope that this additional layer of housing search assistance will enable us to continue to expand our client base and reach the full utilization of all available vouchers. 4. TOP 3 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY23 Operational Highlights in FY23 include setting the stage for the groundbreaking of a record four hundred new affordable workforce housing units in the coming year, structuring the first direct County issuance of tax-exempt housing bonds in more than three decades, and attracting $21.2 million in federal funding to Kaua‘i housing projects. As we prepare to enter FY24, we have teed up the groundbreaking of 400 new workforce housing units in ten separate projects with a collective value of some $217 million. Four of these projects are direct County development projects within the Lima Ola Workforce Housing Subdivision. The remaining projects represent a record number of private affordable housing projects in which the County has assisted with financing and support to leverage additional state and federal resources. We are on track to close a $25 million tax-exempt bond issuance to independently finance the 5 construction of 85 multi-family rental units at Lima Ola. This represents Kaua‘i County’s first bond issuance to fund housing in more than three decades, and the first County issuance of housing bonds in the state in nearly a decade. In January 2022 we completed the construction of Phase I infrastructure work at Lima Ola after nearly a decade of planning. Having demonstrated the Housing Agency ability to complete this large and complex infrastructure project, in FY23 we were able to attract $21.2 million in federal congressionally directed funding for vertical construction within Phase I and for Phase II infrastructure work, which will pave the way for another 172 affordable workforce homes.