Resolution 15271CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLUTION NO. 15271
ADOPTING A PROGRAM FEE FOR THE CITY'S RENT REVIEW,
RENT STABILIZATION AND LIMITATIONS ON EVICTIONS
ORDINANCE, AS AMENDED, AND IMPLEMENTING POLICIES
WHEREAS, on March 1, 2016, the Alameda City Council adopted a Rent Review,
Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance (Ordinance No. 3148) to protect
local tenants from the rapidly increasing cost of rental housing that is the result of rising
rents and a tight rental market; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 3148 went into effect March 31, 2016; and
WHEREAS, for fiscal year 2016/2017, the City Council chose to fund the various
programs made necessary by Ordinance No. 3148 with General Fund revenues rather
than adopt a fee to fund the program in order to gather more data about the program and
actual cost to administer the program; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 3148 was amended on June 6, 2017, and those
amendments will become effective July 6, 2017; and
WHEREAS, the Alameda City Council has adopted and will adopt various Policies,
such as the Capital Improvement Plan Policy, that implements Ordinance No.3148, as
amended; and
WHEREAS, on April 4, 2017, the Alameda City Council, in order to consider
funding through a fee the administration and implementation of the various programs
made necessary by Ordinance No. 3148, as now amended, and its implementing Policies
( "the Ordinance /Policies "), authorized staff to conduct a fee study ( "the Fee Study ") to
determine (a) the amount of money that will be necessary to fund for fiscal year 2017/2018
the various programs made necessary by the Ordinance /Policies and (b) the amount of
the fee ( "the Program Fee ") that would need to be imposed on rental property owners in
order to fund the various programs; and
WHEREAS, the City contracted with SCI Consulting Group (SCI) to prepare the
Fee Study; and
WHEREAS, as part of the Fee Study, SCI worked closely with the Alameda
Housing Authority, the City's Finance, and Community Development Departments' staff
and the City Attorney's office to understand all of the administrative and enforcement
procedures necessary to administer the Ordinance /Policies; and
WHEREAS, the Fee Study demonstrates that the amount of the fee to be imposed on
rental property owners is a function of:
• The number of applicable rental units covered by the Ordinance /Policies
• The amount of staffing to administer the programs (e.g. receiving and tracking rent
increase notices, scheduling and staffing hearings before the Rent Review
Advisory Committee, processing termination of tenancy notices, reviewing Capital
Improvement Plans, providing legal advice and support, billing and collection,
enforcement activities, etc.)
• Contracted services (e.g. hearing officers, translators, etc.)
• Materials and supplies to support the administration of the Program (including
office space and utilities, program software, printing, postage, office equipment,
etc.); and
WHEREAS, SCI, by conducting a rigorous analysis of February 2017 Assessor's lien
roll data provided by the Alameda County Assessor's office, determined that 14,788 rental
units in the City would be subject to the Ordinance /Policies (and hence, subject to a
Program Fee); and
WHEREAS, the costs associated with the administration and regulation of the
Ordinance /Policies include direct and indirect labor costs, contracted services, and
supplies cost and the Fee Study confirms that the tasks and estimated associated labor
hours, as developed by the City and the Housing Authority staff, are reasonable and
accurate; and
WHEREAS, the Fee Study determined the costs attributable to the Ordinance /Policies
are estimated to be $1,799,712 annually; and
WHEREAS, based on the Fee Study, City staff has recommend that the City Council
establish a Program Fee of $120 per rental unit; and
WHEREAS, the Program Fee would be charged annually to rental property owners
on a per rental unit basis and would be paid with the business license fee (for those rental
property owners required to pay such fee) and billed July 1 for those rental property
owners, for example owners of single family homes that are rented, who currently do not
pay a business license fee; and
WHEREAS, the Ordinance as now amended provides that up to fifty percent (50 %) of
the Program Fee be passed on to the tenant in equal installments over the course of
twelve (12) months (or $5.09 per month), which amount would not be included as rent
when calculating the percentage rent increase, as this would be consistent with many
other rent control jurisdictions that impose a Program Fee on rental property owners; and
WHEREAS, if this Program Fee were not imposed on rental property owners and their
tenants, the City's General Fund would absorb the cost to administer the various
programs which would be an unfair burden on taxpayers of the community who neither
own rental property nor are renters; and
WHEREAS, for the reasons stated in the agenda report of June 6, 2017, adoption of
this resolution is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLVES AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. A Program Fee of $120 is imposed on every rental property owner in the City
of Alameda for each rental unit owned, which Program Fee will be billed to each rental
property owner who is required to pay a business license fee by reason of the owner's
rental property business and, for those rental property owners who are not required to
pay a business license fee by reason of the owner's rental property business, the City
shall bill those owners separately.
Section 2. As to the Program Fee of $120, a landlord may pass on to a tenant up to one
half of the Program Fee over a twelve month period ($5.09 /month), which amount shall
not be considered rent in the calculation of any rent increase during that twelve -month
period.
Section 3. This Program Fee shall be evaluated from time to time and at least once every
fiscal year to ensure that the Program Fee reflects the cost to administer the various
programs under the Ordinance /Policies. Such fee shall be included in the City wide
Master Fee Schedule and me be adjusted annually by the Bay Area Consumer Price
Index (CPI).
Section 4. This Resolution is effective immediately upon its adoption but it will not be
operative until July 1, 2017.
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and
regularly adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda in a regular meeting
assembled on the 6th day of June, by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers Ezzy Ashcraft, Matarrese, Oddie, Vella and
Mayor Spencer — 5.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTENTIONS: None.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the
City of Alameda on the 7th day of June, 2017.
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Lara Weisiger, City GPI rk
City of Alameda
Approved as to form:
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Janet C/ Kern, City Attorney
City of /Alameda