20C - AA - RECEIVERSHIP PROGRAM - Laserfiche WebLink

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Appropriation Adjustment allocating General Fund monies to the Receivership Program August 2, 2016 Page 2 On March 21, 2013 the City entered into a Legal Services Agreement with Silver & Wright, LLP for code enforcement and receivership activities in the amount of $25,000. On November 18, 2013 a subsequent Legal Services Agreement was entered with Silver & Wright, LLP for an additional $40,000 for receivership services. Actions in these cases were paid for through a combination of both receivership recoveries and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. On June 17, 2014 the Council approved a subsequent three year agreement with Silver & Wright, LLP for receivership services with no dollar cap based on cost recovery through receiverships with the understanding that the services would be funded with CDBG funds. Additionally, on March 3, 2015 the City Attorney and the Planning and Building Agency received Council approval to file receivership actions against ten additional properties, eight of which were CDBG eligible. As described above, funding for the receivership actions were to be paid through CDBG accounts and receivership recovery funds upon receipt. However, for the eight identified CDBG properties only $50,000 remained of CDBG funds which was set aside to pay for Silver & Wright invoices. In addition, it was determined that receivership cost recovery is not immediate and reimbursement can range from a few months up to a year. As such, the City was not in receipt of recovery funds in order to offset incurred legal expenses resulting in insufficient funding to allow for timely processing of invoices. In order to ensure prompt payment of future invoices, along with continued funding for the receivership program, it is recommended that an appropriation adjustment recognizing $100,000 from Fiscal Year 2015 -16 fund balances be used. However, it should be noted that while the City has experienced receivership cost reimbursement of over 80 %; reimbursement is not a guarantee. STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT Approval of this item supports the City's efforts to meet Goal #3 - Economic Development, Objectives #3 (Promote a solution -based customer focus in all efforts to facilitate development and investment in the community); Goal #5 — Community Health, Livability, Engagement & Sustainability, Objective #4 (Support neighborhood vitality and livability), Strategy E (Implement innovative code enforcement practices and strategies including the use of volunteers, enhanced technologies and increased collaboration with other City departments and outside agencies to address critical livability issues citywide [e.g. overcrowding, absentee landlords, landlord /tenant rights and responsibilities, etc.]). 20Ci -2