REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
June 16, 2016
TO: City Council
FROM: Bruce Rudd, City Manager
SUBJECT
Title
***RESOLUTION - Amending the Better Business Act to add an exception when the City serves as co-applicant for certain State and Federal funds
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution amending the Better Business Act to add an exception when the City serves as a co-applicant for certain State and Federal funds.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The intention of the Better Business Act (BBA) of 2009 was to establish a process that would fully vet private sector applicants requesting financial assistance from the City of Fresno (City). The BBA applies to projects which involve financial risk or exposure to the City exceeding one million. The City has been asked by a number of developers to be a co-applicant for projects applying for the Strategic Growth Council's Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC) funding, as having the City as co-applicant increases a project's competitiveness. Serving as a co-applicant is analogous to being a guarantor, and thus subjects the project to the BBA.
The BBA includes a two-step process made up of a Preliminary Evaluation Phase and Detailed Investigation Phase with several markers for Council review and approval. The proposed exception would allow the bypass of this lengthy evaluation and is specific to instances where the City is serving as co-applicant on grant applications such as the AHSC program, when the developer agrees to certain provisions to protect the City's interest.
The AHSC program funds land-use, housing, transportation, and land preservation projects to support infill and compact development that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Many projects are submitted but few are funded due to their lack of competitiveness which can be increased in various ways such as co-applying with the municipality where the project is being developed. In an effort to incr...
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