In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the virus to be a severe public health threat. As of November 6, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 48,534,508 confirmed cases of COVID-19 leading to 1,231,017 deaths in 206 countries. As of November 5, 2020, Washoe County reported 14,819 confirmed cases and 204 deaths.

On March 15, 2020, the City Manager declared a state of emergency in the City of Sparks related to the global outbreak of COVID-19.

On April 1, 2020, Governor Sislolak issued a stay at home order for Nevada.

On July 27, 2020, the City Council provided direction to the City Manager for possible uses of CARES Act funding received by the City of Sparks that included general uses of the funds related to community assistance.

On August 24, 2020, the City Council approved a Grant Program Contract (AC-5683) between the City of Sparks and the Reno Housing Authority (RHA) for the provision of residential rental assistance with Community Development Block Grant CV (CDBG-CV) funds to tenants residing within the corporate limits of the City of Sparks.

Because time is of the essence, on November 5, 2020, the City Manager approved Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683 to modify the terms and conditions for the provision of residential rental assistance to tenants, including permitting rental assistance to be provided for up to six months' rent (versus three months in the approved agreement) and authorizing RHA to use and rely upon an impact and attestation statement from tenants in lieu of certain required documents. Amendment No. 1 was executed because:

1) Exhibit 1 to AC-5683 limits the rental assistance that RHA may provide a qualified household to three (3) months of rent, which was the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) limitation in effect at the time the original contract was executed. Following this, HUD extended the period of time that a household may be provided rental assistance using CDBG-CV funds to six (6) months.

2) Exhibit 1 to AC-5683 also requires that RHA obtain from applicants seeking rental assistance certain information including, but not limited to: proof of income before the COVID-19 pandemic and documentation demonstrating the loss of income due to COVID-19 for all adult members of the household; and, documentation that a household’s cash assets do not exceed $3,000. RHA, however, was finding it difficult to obtain information from applicants for rental assistance demonstrating pre- and post-COVID-19 income and household cash assets. This difficulty was a substantial impediment to approving and providing rental assistance to eligible households. In response, the State of Nevada authorized RHA and other entities in Nevada using CARES Act funds for the provision of rental assistance to use a “COVID-19 Impact and Attestation Statement,” a form of affidavit, in lieu of other documentation to demonstrate pre- and post-COVID-19 income and household cash assets.

This agenda item requests that the City Council ratify the City Manager’s approval of Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683.

Sections 1.30.010 and 2.20.025 of the Sparks Municipal Code empower the City Manager to proclaim the existence of a local state of emergency and to request state and federal assistance when the City of Sparks is affected by, or in imminent danger of, a public calamity and the City Council is not in session. State law authorizes local governments responding to an emergency to “enter into contracts and incur obligations necessary to combat such an emergency or disaster, protect the health and safety of persons and property and provide emergency assistance to the victims of such an emergency or disaster.” NRS 414.090(3). On March 15, 2020, the City Manager declared a state of emergency in the City of Sparks related to the global outbreak of Covid-19.

On November 5, 2020, the City Manager approved Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683 for the following reasons:

• The terms and conditions of Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683 have been reviewed by staff and deemed acceptable.
• Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683 enables the provision of services needed by the community due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing rental assistance to residents of Sparks is in the best interest of the health and safety of our citizens.
• The services provided through Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683 are needed and time is of the essence.
• The use of CARES Act funds is appropriate to pay the costs incurred through AC-5683; the contract is a necessary expenditure due to the public health emergency; the costs were not accounted for in the City’s FY20 or FY21 budgets; the costs will be incurred during the period between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020; and the CARES Act funds are not being used to offset a revenue shortfall caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

1.   City Council may ratify Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683 as recommended.

2.   City Council may reject Amendment No. 1 to AC-5683 and provide direction to the City Manager.

I move to ratify Amendment No. 1 to the Grant Program Contract (AC-5683) between the City of Sparks and the Reno Housing Authority to modify the terms and conditions for the provision of residential rental assistance to tenants residing within the corporate limits of the City of Sparks.