Accept Portland’s Housing Bond Oversight Committee 2023 Progress Report
| DATE | July 17, 2024 |
| TO | City Council |
| FROM | Helmi Hisserich, Director |
| SUBJECT | Accept Portland’s Housing Bond Oversight Committee Progress Report 2023 |
The Portland Housing Bureau asks City Council to accept the Portland’s Housing Bond Oversight Committee Progress Report 2023.
One of the primary roles of the Bond Oversight Committee is providing City Council with annual reports on progress in implementing Portland’s Housing Bond. The report summarizes the committee’s review and oversight of implementation, focusing on the goals: progress towards production targets, adherence to the Bond Policy Framework, engaging communities and maintaining fiscal accountability.
Official Record (Efiles)
Impact Statement
Purpose of Proposed Legislation and Background Information
The Bond Oversight Committee is a four-member independent oversight committee. Their role is to monitor progress, review finances and hold the City accountable to the community-created plans and values created in the Bond Policy Framework. The committee also provides annual reports to City Council and the public.
The report summarizes Bond implementation highlights and activities occurring in 2023, with a focus on: progress towards production targets, adherence to the Bond Policy Framework, engaging communities and maintaining fiscal accountability.
Financial and Budgetary Impacts
There is no direct impact to PHB’s budget for Council’s acceptance of the report.
Community Impacts and Community Involvement
The committee meets quarterly, and all meetings are open to the public and allow time for public testimony. Four meetings were held in 2023 on the following dates: February 2nd, April 6th, July 13th, and October 5th. The committee oversees implementation of the Bond in alignment with the Bond Policy Framework, accepted and approved by City Council in October 2017.
This framework was created by the Bond Stakeholder Advisory Group, comprised of 18 community stakeholders appointed by the Mayor. The group convened for nine meetings from April to September 2017. They identified community priorities and guidelines for how bond funds should be spent, responsive to the immense needs in our community. In addition to Stakeholder Advisory Group meetings, PHB and community partners conducted robust outreach and engagement over five weeks to gather comments on the draft policy framework prior to finalization. This included contacts with nearly 1,000 community members through group discussions with agencies, networks and/or coalitions, in-person interviews with members from 16 linguistically specific immigrant and refugee groups, and online surveys.
100% Renewable Goal
The report does not impact the City’s total or renewable energy use.
Financial and Budget Analysis
Analysis provided by City Budget Office
No fiscal impact to accept the report. The Portland Housing Bond is a general obligation bond dedicating $258.4 million to create new homes for Portlanders struggling to afford a place to live. The Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) is responsible for ensuring Bond funds are invested in a manner consistent with the original intent of voters. Through quarterly reporting, the BOC ensures that Bond dollars committed through solicitation awards and spent on acquisitions and development financing are clearly and separately tracked. The BOC also monitors the issuance of bonds as a portion of the total $258.4 million Bond Authorization. A portion of the total Bond Authorization is periodically sold to generate resources available for affordable housing development. These periodic issuances of bonds occur after property acquisitions and after a commitment of bond funds to project developers. The issued bonds have been invested in project acquisitions and developments and are depicted in the report as committed, expended, and remaining Bond funds. Interest and other credits earned on bond issuances are also tracked to be reallocated as part of the total remaining Bond available to invest in future projects The BOC also monitors the Bond program’s administrative costs to ensure all expenses are in alignment and meet the implementation criteria passed by voters in the Bond Measure. To date, 5.45% of the total Bonds expended have been allocated as program delivery expenses. The Portland Bond funds have been fully committed since 2022. Reserves that were maintained as contingency for Bond projects in development were released in October 2021 in a solicitation for projects located in a Southwest Portland neighborhood or projects with a Supportive Housing focus for those experiencing homelessness