The Washoe County HOME Consortium (WCHC) is a partnership, formalized through an intergovernmental agreement, between Washoe County and the cities of Reno and Sparks. The original Inter-Governmental Agreement for the WCHC was adopted in 1994 to address regional and affordable housing issues and to allocate funds received in the region for affordable housing development. Creating the WCHC enabled the region to receive increased funding over what would be received by any of the participating jurisdictions independently. The City of Reno serves as the lead agency and the City of Sparks and Washoe County are participating jurisdictions.

HUD requires that HOME consortia renew their inter-governmental agreements every three years. However, HUD allows consortia to include an automatic renewal in agreements. This mechanism establishes that in successive three-year periods the agreement will be renewed if all the participating jurisdictions continue to provide a notice of intent to the lead agency when the agreement is up for renewal. The City of Sparks approved, by resolution, the automatic renewal in 2014. Per the terms of the agreement, the City of Reno has requested (see attached letter) that the City of Sparks affirm its intention to continue to participate in the WCHC during the upcoming three fiscal years, from 2018-2020.

The Inter-Governmental Agreement outlines the structure of the WCHC as well as how the WCHC will maintain compliance with certain HUD regulations. As the lead agency for the WCHC, the City of Reno administers the funds allocated to the WCHC and ensures compliance with federal and/or state regulations. Renewing the Inter-Governmental Agreement will continue the WCHC for at least another three years and ensure that the WCHC remains eligible to receive federal and state funding for affordable housing development.

1. The City Council may vote to affirm the City of Sparks’ continued participation in the WCHC during fiscal years 2018-2020.
2. The City Council may vote to remove the City of Sparks from the Washoe County Home Consortium.

I move to direct the City Manager to affirm in writing to the City of Reno, the lead agency for the WCHC, the City of Sparks’ intent to continue to participate as a member of the Washoe County Home Consortium during fiscal years 2018-2020.