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September 18, 2018 <br />Mayor Pulido and City Councilmembers <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />P.O. Bo 1988, M31 <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />www.kennedycommissiorr org <br />17701 Cowan Ave., Suite 200 <br />Irvine, CA 92614 <br />949 250 0909 <br />Fax 949 263 0647 <br />RE: Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report <br />Support Development of a Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program <br />The Kennedy Commission is a broad coalition of residents and community organizations that <br />advocates for the production of homes affordable for families earning less than $20,000 annually <br />in Orange County. Formed in 2001, the Commission has been successful in partnering and <br />working with jurisdiction in Orange County to create effective policies that has led to the new <br />construction of homes affordable to lower income working families. <br />The need for housing affordable to low-wage earners in Orange County, California, is enormous. <br />Ranked among the top ten least affordable metropolitan areas in the countryl'l, Orange County is <br />suffering from an affordable housing crisis. A resident must earn at least $36.08 per hour to <br />afford a two-bedroom apartment at a fair market rent of $1,876 a month.i2l As rents and the <br />number of residents needing affordable homes have continually increased, the number of <br />affordable homes being built for lower income households has not kept up with the demand. <br />The average asking rents is the City is $1,687, which is a nine percent increase from the year <br />before and rents are expected to continue to inerease.131 With lower wages that are not keeping up <br />with rising rents, many renting families continue to struggle financially to live and work in this <br />City. Approximately 60 percent of renter households are lower income,"1 and 84 percent of <br />residents held moderate and low-income occupations that paid less than $53,500 per year.i51 In <br />order for rent to be affordable, only 30 percent of an individual's income should be used towards <br />housing costs. Unfortunately, 57 percent of renters overpaid or spent more than 30 percent <br />of their income towards housing costs. 161 <br />nI Out of Reach 2018- The High Cost of Housing, National Low Income Housing Coalition, p. 14, 2018.