DEPARTMENT: Neighborhood and Housing Services Department (NHSD)
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Verónica R. Soto, AICP
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUMMARY:
Briefing on the San Antonio Housing Trust (SAHT) strategic assessment recommendations conducted by the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
With the acceptance of the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force (MHPTF) Final Report on September 6, 2018, the San Antonio City Council recommended a strategic assessment of the SAHT to increase accountability and transparency, align the SAHT with the City’s affordable housing priorities, and increase affordable housing production capacity. The Assessment was to include the SAHT itself, the San Antonio Housing Trust Foundation (SAHTF); the San Antonio Housing Trust Finance Corporation (SAHT-FC); and the San Antonio Housing Trust Public Facility Corporation (SAHT-PFC).
The City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to secure these services on October 12, 2018 and posted on the City’s Bidding and Contracting Opportunities webpage. The RFP was advertised in the San Antonio Express-News. A pre-submittal conference was held on October 18, 2018, to allow for Respondent questions and clarification to the RFP. The City approved a contract with the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) contract on January 17, 2019.
The SAHT was established in 1988 with a $10 million contribution from the City of San Antonio. The SAHTF was established soon thereafter as a separate legal entity to hire staff and administer the resources of the SAHT. Since its founding, the SAHTF’s primary activities have been making low-interest loans to support non-profit housing organizations and providing administrative support to the housing trust entities and other city housing programs. The Boards of Directors of these two organizations are made up of the same eleven individuals appointed by the Mayor and Council.
SAHT-FC was established in 1997 under the Texas Housing Finance Corporation Act and, a dozen years later, the SAHT-PFC was established under the Texas Public Facility Corporation Act. The primary activity of the SAHT-FC is to issue multifamily housing revenue bonds and the primary activity of the SAHT-PFC is to serve as the general partner in housing development projects, thereby conferring tax-exempt status on the project. The Boards of Directors of the SAHT-FC and SAHT-PFC are made up of the same five members of City Council. Both entities rely on the administrative support of the SAHTF but have a separate legal counsel.
ISSUE:
With the acceptance of the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force (MHPTF) Final Report on September 6, 2018, the San Antonio City Council recommended a strategic assessment of the SAHT to increase accountability and transparency, align the SAHT with the City’s affordable housing priorities, and increase affordable housing production capacity. Through the RFP process the City selected NALCAB on January 17, 2019 to conduct the assessment.
The assessment began on February 2019 in coordination with the SAHT and its related entities through a request for participation by the boards of these entities. Through this partnership the consultant was able to gather critical data, organizational processes, and information.
The SAHT strategic assessment includes a benchmarking analysis, organizational assessment, and strategic recommendations. The benchmarking analysis provides a comparison of other housing agencies around the country including investment levels, operational processes, and organization structures. The organization assessment of the SAHT was based on a review of extensive documentation provided by the SAHT and interviews with staff, board and external stakeholders. The strategic recommendations for strengthening the agency are based on the observations from the assessment and contextualized by the findings of the benchmarking report. A summary of the key recommendations of this report will be presented to the Comprehensive Plan Committee.
ALTERNATIVES:
This report is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This report is for briefing purposes only.
RECOMMENDATION:
This report is for briefing purposes only