HUD AWARDS NEARLY $2 BILLION IN CARES ACT RELIEF FUNDS, FOCUSING ON COMMUNITIES WITH HIGHER RISK OF EVICTION

Note: Readers of this blog might be interested some new data in the post From Chris Salvati @ Apartment List > New Data: 32% of Renters Have Pandemic “Rent Debt”
that follows this press release: 

HUD NEWS

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Ben Carson, Secretary

Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC 20410                       

HUD No. 20-143                                                                                         FOR RELEASE

HUD Public Affairs                                                                                     Friday

202-708-0685                                                                                                 September 11, 2020

HUD.gov/Press

HUD AWARDS NEARLY $2 BILLION IN CARES ACT RELIEF FUNDS, FOCUSING ON COMMUNITIES WITH HIGHER RISK OF EVICTION

            WASHINGTON - United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson today announced the allocation of the remaining $1.988 billion in CARES Act funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.  The allocation focuses funds towards places with households facing higher risk of eviction. To date, HUD has provided nearly $5 billion in CDBG funding nationwide to help communities combat the coronavirus and alleviate economic hardship.

   “The Trump Administration has maintained that no one should risk losing their home due to the coronavirus,” said Secretary Ben Carson. “We’ve taken several actions since the beginning of this pandemic to keep Americans in their homes. Today, we announce additional aid to the communities that need it the most. These funds can help households struggling to meet their rental or mortgage obligations to stay afloat as our nation continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.”

These funds can be used to provide temporary financial assistance to meet rental obligations for up to 6 months. The funds are focused toward places with households facing higher risk of eviction. Specifically:

• Communities with high rates of individuals in industries with high job loss in states with high unemployment;
• Communities with high rates of businesses in industries with high job loss in states with high unemployment; and
• Concentrations of those most at risk for transmission and risk of eviction, with higher amounts for states with high rates of coronavirus.

Today’s announcement is consistent with the President’s August 8, 2020 Executive Order “Fighting the Spread of COVID-19 by Providing Assistance to Renters and Homeowners,” which directs HUD to identify “any and all available Federal funds to provide temporary financial assistance to renters and homeowners who, as a result of the financial hardships caused by COVID-19, are struggling to meet their monthly rental or mortgage obligations.”

Since President Trump issued that order, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has reiterated the Trump Administration’s commitment to minimize displacement and evictions resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic national emergency. 

For more information on HUD's response to the novel coronavirus pandemic and the actions the Department has taken, please visit HUD.gov/coronavirus.

HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.

More information about HUD and its programs is available at www.hud.gov and https://espanol.hud.gov.

For information about Opportunity Zones visit: https://opportunityzones.hud.gov/

You can also connect with HUD on social media and follow Secretary Carson on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for news alerts on HUD's Email List.

HUD COVID-19 Resources and Fact Sheets

________________________________________________________________
Connect with HUD on Social Media and follow Secretary Carson on Twitter and Facebook.
HUD COVID-19 Resources and Fact Sheets

From Chris Salvati @ Apartment List > New Data: 32% of Renters Have Pandemic “Rent Debt”

Hey Tim,
In the wake of a nationwide eviction moratorium and lapsed unemployment supplements, renters continue to struggle to make housing payments. 
This month, we found 10% of renters failed to make their full August payment by the end of the month, and 1-in-6 started September owing $1,000+ in missed rent. 
In the first week of September, 32% had not paid their full rent bill. These figures reflect a slight and surprising improvement from August.

Best,

Chris

CHRIS SALVIATI

Housing Economist

Apartment List

Key findings from the report:

• 31% of renters begin September owing rent for previous months. Among those with accumulated pandemic rent debt, nearly half owe less than $1,000.
• Rent debt is much more common among Black and Hispanic renters. 41% of Black renters and 48% of Hispanic Renters still owe rent from Spring and Summer months.
• Renters are making significant financial sacrifices to try to stay afloat. Among renters that have fallen behind on their payments, 30% report running up credit card debt, 31% have had to sell off assets, and 16% have dipped into their retirement savings.

You can view the full report here. 

CHRIS SALVIATI

Housing Economist

Apartment List

978.551.0600

salviati@apartmentlist.com

FACT CHECKER: False Claims Are Contagious

Here's Hizzoner Mesa Mayor John Giles in a close huddle before the current 2020 Economic Crisis he spouted-off the same things that are not correct back then or now

Mnuchin’s claim that the pre-pandemic economy ‘would pay down debt over time’

By Glenn Kessler Glenn KesslerThe Fact Checker

Washington Post

 “We were having extraordinary growth. We were creating growth that would pay down the debt over time.”                  

— Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Sept. 6, 2020

"It is an article of faith among top Trump administration officials that the economy was doing great until the novel coronavirus struck. That’s not correct.

Even before the virus shut down economies around the globe, the U.S. manufacturing sector had experienced a mild recession in 2019, according to data released by the Federal Reserve three days before the first reported coronavirus case in the United States.

Moreover, despite President Trump’s repeated (false) claim of having the greatest economy in U.S. history, annual growth of the gross domestic product always fell short of the lofty promises he made during the campaign . . .

What’s this about? The facts

Hmmm. A reminder, this is what Mnuchin said on TV: “We were creating growth that would pay down the debt over time.”

But, okay, let’s assume Mnuchin really was referring to the ratio of debt to the size of the economy...

How did the administration do with its short-term forecast, for just the fourth quarter of 2019 a few months later? The administration projected 3.2 percent growth, but it turned out to be 2.4 percent. The CBO projected 2.3 percent, and FOMC projected 2.1 percent.

The administration also projected 3.2 percent GDP growth in 2019 but as noted above that also fell short.  

Reality has a way of getting in the way of such forecasts.

Before the virus, the economy was doing okay, but it was not “extraordinary.” It’s misleading for Mnuchin to assert that the administration was on track to reduce the debt, or even the debt-to-GDP ratio, before the virus blew everyone’s plans to pieces. We wavered between Three and Four Pinocchios but tipped toward Three, because the treasury secretary can point to a published forecast, even if it relies on assumptions that are not especially credible.

Three Pinocchio "

_________________________________________________________________________________

BLOGGER INSERT: Post on this blog from April 2019

< Here's a 7-year projection for 2025 from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
New Tax Law Is Fundamentally Flawed and Will Require Basic Restructuring   

UPDATED August 14, 2018

by Chuck Marr  Brendan Duke  Chye-Ching Huang 

The major tax legislation enacted last December will cost approximately $1.5 trillion over the next decade and deliver windfall gains to wealthy households and profitable corporations, further widening the gap between those at the top of the income ladder and the rest of the nation . . .

Note the income groups, the percentage change in after-tax income, and the average estimated changes.

From the figure first presented at the start of this post for the top 0.1% $193,380 is higher, $252,300.

_________________________________________________________________________

BOTTOM LINE 
Mnuchin and others in the Trump administration pledged that the tax law wouldn’t benefit the wealthy, but that promise was doomed from the start
BLOGGER NOTES:
< An image taken from Twitter of Mesa Mayor John Giles (at center) in Washington DC having a talk with Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Secretary of The Treasury a couple of months ago.
A couple of years earlier at a U.S. Mayors Conference, Giles stated that except for an aircraft carrier, you get everything from cities.

That's a paraphrase, but it certainly looks that things have changed.

_________________________________________________________________________
There’s a particular type of rich person, probably living somewhere in Florida, Texas, or another low-tax state like Arizona who did even better. This person runs his own company or companies, likely in the real estate business. . .

Here is the post opening (and a link) :

13 April 2019

Now We Know: The 2017 Tax Law’s Big Winner Is the Millionaire CEO

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin

Writing about "Hyper-Local" news nearly always requires perspectives and different angles on the stories posted here. Images selected for insertion are intended to make visual impacts of editorial content by sight.
They send a message. Now some numbers:
The top 0.1%, who make more than $3.4 million a year, made out with $193,380.
The top 1% of income earners made out with $51,140. 
Average Americans made out with $1,610
_________________________________________________________________________
Follow along if you can . . . It's not meant to-be-easy. Somehow readers of this blog need to do more work to connect-the-dots when information, comments, and opinions are presented side-by-side. For example, why this opening image with one guy gesturing on the left?

It's too early to get puzzled, but if you know about Mnuchin to start with, there's more from the federal level directly impacting a city like Mesa, its mayor, more especially Opportunity Zones (Mesa has 11 if you didn't know that before), state and local sales and property taxes, commercial real estate, income inequality and what might help explain the crisis in affordable housing here. We're going to bounce back-and-forth and forward fairly fast - and finally get to what is featured in a post on this blog yesterday . . .

 READ MORE>         https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2019/04

__________________________________________________________________________

SEE THESE EARLIER POSTS :

19 March 2017

InThe Cubby-Hole @ Sloan Park: Big Biz or Big Bad Debt for Mesa Taxpayers?

Do Stadium/Ballparks Save Cities?

By Matthew Robare • October 31, 2016, 11:46 AM

Source: The American Conservative

Baseball stadiums are expensive to build and property prices have always been high, especially considering the amount of parking needed to accommodate 15-20,000 people.

As a result, teams want public financing, tax abatements, and all the other ills that crony capitalism promotes.

Paid for with higher taxes, increased public indebtedness, and highway improvements, the stadiums/ballparks were sold to city, county, and state governments as a form of economic development and urban regeneration.

 

01 May 2019

Playing-The-Punches: BIG BUSINESS or BIG DEBT

Now that the 2019 Chicago Cubbies Cactus League Spring Training is over with, let's take a little time-out to go back and cover some bases in what's now a seven-year run around at the City of Mesa's Sloan Park, built with taxpayer-funded debt service for the Billionaire-Ricketts Family in Chicago who own the sports franchise conglomerate.
Once city officials get that Play-Book down pat, they keep playing it. follow along if you can and see how this gaming of Mesa taxpayers works out now with the deals made with ASU

Blogger Note:
Both the Billionaire-Ricketts Family in Chicago and ASU in Tempe have one thing in common: both are rich enough to have financed these big deals if they wanted to.
Instead, "Sales Pitches" were thrown at the public here in Mesa to fund their fields-of-schemes to load up debt on the backs of taxpayers. 
What's the public benefit for a seasonal ball park? _______
Private real estate speculators and developers can reap the whirlwind of sizeable profits.
At least in some of the factoids and details extracted from an article in The Chicago Tribune two years ago, there are some dots that can get connected in the new power plays.

THIS IS NO LONGER TRUE: 

"A politician doesn't want to be known as the guy who put into place a funding mechanism that funneled public dollars to billionaire owners,"

 

 

 

25 August 2019

Take-Me-Out To The Mesa Council's Ball Game & Photo Opp: Paid In Full

Throw in some peanuts and Cracker Jacks inside the Upper Chamber for last Monday's public meeting and it's hard to beat City Manager Chris Brady's off-season extravaganza with all the boys of a hot summertime all lined up to show a big graphic. This opening image was taken from Twitter.
If you missed the show on Monday, there's a post on this blog to view it.
There are 15 people in the image: a crowd. Some of that is explained below in an article from AZ Big Media.

Other details are omitted . . . If you're not good at connecting the dots, please just believe the mainstream media hype.
Please don't even dare to ask who bought-and-sold some 11,442 acres in carefully-crafted land transfers that follow the usual development playbook to make fortunes off former agricultural lands all with water-rights that run with the land.
The end buyer of the acreage? Saints Holdings LLC.
Time for readers to do some digital work - use the Search box on this blog. Suggestion: type in Mesa Water Farm, Pinal Land Holdings, Natalie Lewis, or Jacob Andersen. Game on!
_________________________________________________________________________
 Trading hands, holding companies and joint ventures.
There are some details about the buyer missing, including 'pay-offs' all along the way for what's called "now obsolete water-rights" - the most precious commodity here in the desert. 

Mesa will pay off Sloan Park and Hohokam Stadium ahead of schedule
Business News | 20 Aug | AZ Business Magazine

"The Mesa City Council took steps today to pay off the remaining debt on its two Spring Training facilities — Sloan Park and Hohokam Stadium — ahead of schedule which will save the city millions of dollars in interest payments. With the completion of the sale of City-owned land in Pinal County, City Manager Chris Brady recommended council action that will set aside $54 million to retire the obligation bonds.

“Very few communities can say that they have paid off their stadiums and even fewer in just five years. Now, every dollar generated by Spring Training goes directly to the City,” Mayor John Giles said. “Thank you to the 2010 Mesa City Council who had the foresight to set this innovative plan in motion.”

In April 2013, the City issued $94 million of excise tax revenue obligations to finance the construction of Chicago Cubs Sloan Park and the renovation of Hohokam Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Oakland Athletics.

When issuance of the bonds was authorized, revenue from the sale of Pinal County land owned by the City for its now-obsolete water rights was identified as the funding source to repay the obligations. . .

Roughly half of the bond debt ($45 million) was eligible to be paid off early in July 2017 and was done so shortly thereafter utilizing proceeds from the initial sale of a portion of Pinal County land. The remaining principal ($49 million) will be removed from the City’s outstanding debt obligation.

Source: https://azbigmedia.com

 

 

 

City of Mesa PROPOSED UTILITY RATE "ADJUSTMENTS" Audit, Finance & Enterprise Committee Meeting Thu 09.10.2020

Note: The Agenda was printed 2 days before this 8 a.m. meeting yesterday - hardly enough time for the three City Council members to review and to analyze 14 pages of the prepared Committee Report or the 42-slide Presentation.
That's not even enough time for a independent qualified financial analyst to dig into all the details in the data, or for that matter in the provided Projection of the Cash Flow for the City of Mesa's Utility Enterprise Fund.
_________________________________________________________________________

Furthermore, any reasonable person is entitled to ask if the three committee members David Luna, Jennifer Duff, or Mark Freeman present any competence or qualifications from their pre-Council careers: Luna and Freeman were city employees for many years: Freeman a Fire Captain for 31 years and Luna in the city school department. Duff owned a small business that manufactures fishing lures.

For the previous three years, the issues under review now have been subjects of controversy that were raised by Mesa City member Jeremy Whittaker multiple times over and over again - his informed questions and opposition views to the status quo effectively scuttled his re-election campaign.
He was called "divisive" by the mayor in a video endorsement of his challenger (who was also endorsed and supported by Luna, Duff and Freeman in the August Primary Election.)  

Yesterday's early morning Audit, Finance & Enterprise Committee meeting called on the city's 'top guns' employed in the city manager's office (3) and the office of Management & Budget (2) to prepare the data to make the recommendations for utility rate "adjustments" for FY2021.



There is also a prepared

City of Mesa Utility Enterprise Fund Cash Flow Projection

_________________________________________________
  

Meeting Name:

Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee

Agenda status:

Final

Meeting date/time:

9/10/2020 8:00 AM

Minutes status:

Draft

Meeting location:

Virtual Platform

File #:

20-0845

Type:

Presentation

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee

On agenda:

9/10/2020

Title:

Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide a recommendation on proposed utility rate adjustments.

Attachments:

1. Presentation, 2. Committee Report, 3. Attachment 1 - Utility Rate Recommendations for FY 2021, 4. Attachment 2 - City of Mesa Utility Enterprise Fund Cash Flow Projection

________________________________________________________________________
2 INSERTS: RELATED CONTENT ON MESAZONA:

18 February 2018

Audit, Finance & Enterprise Committee Meeting 21 Feb 2018

Final Agenda

21 Feb 2018 8:00 AM
Council Chambers - Lower Level


Among others, West Mesa CDC gets examined

 

 

28 March 2019

Is Mesa A Smart City with Audit, Finance & Enterprise Reports Like This???

You might have missed this - a 36-page presentation
Yeah - Let's see what's going here with  internal controls! 
Further use of audit resources is TBD – we will seek direction
NOTE: This is one item from this morning's Mesa City Council Session that probably not too many even noticed . . .
Take a look
Here it is > with link to the source

________________________________________________________________________

Here's the 42-Page Power Point Slide Presentation:
City of Mesa w FY 2020/21 Utility Rates Recommendations
Audit, Finance & Enterprise Committee
September 10, 2020

Presented by:

Brian A. Ritschel –Management & Budget Assistant Director
Jake West –Water Resources Director
Patrick Murphy –Deputy Solid Waste Director
Frank McRae –Energy Resources Director

OVERVIEW
Utility Enterprise Operations 2-7

Water and Wastewater 8-13

Solid Waste 14-18

Electric Service 19-

   Page 29 Electric System

   >> Standby Customers with on-site generation use entire electric system if their generation does not meet their energy requirements.

   >> Additionally, significant investments in the 12 kV Distribution System are required to extend service to the new developments

 

Natural Gas Service 30-37

IN THE FUTURE page 38
• Smart Meters
   • Time of Use Rates
   • Electric Vehicle Rates
 • Prepaid Electric Bills

 

Schedule for FY 2020/21 Utility Rates Adjustment Recommendation Page 39

Sep 21 – City Council Action on Notice of Intent

Oct 15  –  City Council Discussion of Utility Rates
Nov 16 –  Introduce Utility Rate Ordinances
Dec 01 –  City Council Action on Utility Rates
Jan 01 –   Effective date for Utility Rate changes

Rate Adjustment History Page 41

Rate Adjustment History Page 42

________________________________________________________________________________

Here's the 14-Page  
Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee Report 

Date: September 10, 2020

To: Audit, Finance and Enterprise Committee
Through:
Michael Kennington, Chief Financial Officer/Deputy City Manager
Kari Kent, Assistant City Manager
John Pombier, Assistant City Manager
From:
Candace Cannistraro, Management and Budget Director 
Scott Bouchie, Environmental Management and Sustainability Director
Frank McRae, Energy Resources Director
Jake West, Water Resources Director
Subject: Fiscal Year 2020/2021 Utility Rate Recommendations 

PURPOSE AND RECOMMENDATION

The purpose of this report is to provide staff recommendations for utility rate adjustments. The rate adjustments are recommended to be effective January 1, 2021. 

The forecasted expenses for each utility are compared to the forecasted revenues based on the current rates.

The increases in annualized revenues needed to accommodate the increased costs for each utility are: 

• Utility Revenue Solid Waste $330,000
• Electric $272,000
• Natural Gas    $428,000
• Water $6,698,000
• Wastewater   $2,951,000  

The method of implementation of rate adjustments can vary from year to year based on the needs and goals of the individual utilities.

The impact on individual customers can vary based on the method of implementation and the customer consumption.

Page 2
FY 2020/2021 Utility Rate Adjustments Page 2  

For FY 2020/21, the following rate adjustments are being recommended

(see Attachment 1 for more detail): 

 

Solid Waste:
Residential barrel rates: no adjustment
Bulk item pick-up:  Increase by $1.96, from $23.04 to $25.00
Bulk Item Not Out Fee: Increase by $13.21, from $11.79 to $25.00
Front-load rates: Overall 3.5% increase
Commercial Roll-Off rates: 1.0% increase 

 

Electric:
Residential: service charge increase of $1.00 per month 
Residential: 1.0% Summer Tier 1 usage rate increase and 5.0% Winter Tier 1 and Tier 2 usage rate increase
Establish new Standby Rate Gas: Residential: service charge increase of $0.25 per month
Residential: 10.0% Summer and Winter Tier 2 usage rate increase
Non-residential: service charge increase of $2.00
Non-residential: 3.0% Summer and Winter Tier 2 usage rate increase 
Non-residential: Adjust Tier 1 usage from 0-1,200 therms to 0-1,500 therms
Establish new Economic Development Rate 

Water:

Residential: 1.50% increase to service and usage components
Non-residential: 1.50% and 5.00% increases to usage and service components, respectively, across most customer classes
Interdepartmental: no adjustment
Continue with final residential water usage tier adjustment
Continue with removal of final excess surcharge holiday
 

Wastewater:

Residential rate: 3.50% increase to service and usage components
Non-residential: 4.00% increase to service and usage components, across most customer classes
Establish Household Hazardous Waste $0.41 per month rider for Leisure World customers Interdepartmental: no adjustment