Resolution 15771CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLUTION NO. 15771
ADOPTING A TIER -STRUCTURED ANNUAL RENT PROGRAM FEE
FOR THE CITY'S RENT CONTROL ORDINANCE AND
IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS
WHEREAS, in September 2019, the Alameda City Council adopted an amended
and restated Rent Control, Limitations on Evictions and Relocation Payment to Certain
Tenants Ordinance (Ordinance No. 3250) to protect tenants from the rapidly increasing
cost of rental housing that is the result of rising rents and a tight rental market; and
WHEREAS, adoption of Ordinance No. 3250 resulted in significant changes to the
Rent Program services provided by the Housing Authority of the City of Alameda (that
serves as the City's Rent Program Administrator) and by City staff including requiring a
rent registry, establishing an Annual General Adjustment of rent based on 70% of the
percentage change of the Consumers Price Index, revising how relocation payments are
calculated, eliminating no cause terminations of tenancies, and extending protection to
tenants with Section 8 vouchers; and
WHEREAS, because of these enhanced services, the City contracted with SCI
Consulting Group (SCI) to prepare a Rent Program Regulatory Fee Study (Fee Study) to
determine (a) the program costs for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 (and beyond) and (b) the per
rental unit fee amount ("the Program Fee") that would need to be imposed on rental
property owners in order to fund the various services and programs; and
WHEREAS, as part of the Fee Study, SCI worked closely with the Housing
Authority of the City of Alameda (Housing Authority), the City's Finance and the
Community Development Departments, and the City Attorney's Office to understand all
of the direct and indirect costs necessary to administer the Ordinance and implement
Regulations to carry out the Ordinance; 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;
• The amount of necessary staffing to administer the programs;
• Contracted services (e.g. Housing Authority staff, hearing officers, etc.); and
• Materials and supplies to support the administration of the programs (including
office space and utilities, program software, printing, postage, office equipment,
etc.); and
WHEREAS, SCI, by conducting a rigorous analysis of data collected by the Housing
Authority and the Finance Department, determined that there are an (a) estimated 11,195
Fully Regulated Units, i.e., multi -unit properties for which a certificate of occupancy was
issued prior to February 1995, which units are subject to all provisions, (e.g. rentcontrol,
just cause for eviction, etc.) of Ordinance No. 3250 and (b) estimated 2,697 Partially
Regulated Units, e.g., single family homes, condominiums, certain privately owned rent -
subsidized rental units, which units are subject to all provisions of Ordinance No. 3250
except rent control; and
WHEREAS, the costs associated with the administration of Ordinance No. 3250
include direct and indirect labor costs, contracted services, and supply cost and the Fee
Study confirms that the tasks and estimated associated labor hours, as developed by the
City and the Housing Authoring staff, are reasonable and accurate; and
WHEREAS, the Fee Study determined the overall costs attributable to Ordinance No.
3250 (rent control, just cause/relocation payments) are estimated to be $2.02 million but
costs associated with administering the rent control provisions of Ordinance No. 3250
should be allocated solely to the Fully Regulated Units, resulting in a Program Fee for
landlords of those units higher than for landlords of Partially Regulated Units; and
WHEREAS, based on the Fee Study, SCI opined that a Program Fee of $153 for Fully
Regulated Units and a Program Fee of $105 for Partially Regulated Units, in addition to
an annual adjustment based on a portion of the Consumer Price Index, could be justified;
and
WHEREAS, while there is projected to be a Rent Program fund balance, for various
reasons including the program not being fully staffed and, certain expenses not having
fully accrued, these reasons will not continue into the future, thus staff recommends
against applying that fund balance to the costs of the Program going forward; and
WHEREAS, the Program Fee would be charged annually to rental property owners
on a per rental unit basis and billed July 1; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 3250 provides that fifty percent (50%) of the Program Fee
may be passed on to the tenant in equal installments over the course of twelve (12)
months, which amount is not to be included as rent when calculating the percentage rent
increase; and
WHEREAS, if this Program Fee were not imposed on rental property owners and their
tenants, the City would be required to absorb the cost to administer the various programs
and services using the General Fund, 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 April 6, 2021, adoption of
this resolution is exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for two
independent reasons. First, adoption of a Rent Program Fee is not a project as defined
in Public Resources Code section 21065. Second, under CEQA Guidelines section
15378(b)(4) it is exempt, as it constitutes the creation of a government funding
mechanism or other governmental fiscal activity that does not involve any commitment to
any specific project that could result in a potentially significant physical impact on the
environment.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of
Alameda as follows:
Section 1. A Program Fee of $148 is imposed on every rental property owner in the City
of Alameda for each Fully Regulated Unit owned.
Section 2. A Program Fee of $100 is imposed on every rental property owner in the City
of Alameda for each Partially Regulated Unit owned.
Section 3. Notwithstanding Section 2 of this Resolution, landlords of a privately owned
rent -subsidized rental unit as determined by the Program Administrator shall not be
responsible for paying a Rent Program Fee; rather, these fees will be paid by the City's
General Fund.
Section 4. For Fiscal Year 2021-2022, landlords paying the Program Fee after
September 30, 2021 for units that require registration as of July 1, 2021, shall pay, in
addition to the Program Fee, a late charge of 10% for each month (including any partial
month) up to a maximum of 60%.
Section 5. For the fiscal years following Fiscal Year 2021-2022, and landlords paying the
Program Fee after July 31 for units that require registration as of July 1 in the same year
shall pay, in addition to the Program Fee, a late charge of 10% of each month (including
any partial month) up to a maximum of 60%.
Section 6. Beginning July 1, 2022 and annually thereafter, the Program Fees established
in Sections 1 and 2 above shall be administratively revised by a factor equal to the
difference in the San Francisco -Oakland -Hayward Region Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI -U) for the twelve month period April through April of the prior
fiscal year.. In no event shall be the adjustment be negative.
Section 7. This Resolution is effective July 1, 2021.
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was adopted by the
City Council of the City of Alameda at a regular meeting on the 4`h day of May 2021 by
the following vote -
AYES: Councilmembers Knox White, Vella and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft —
3.
NOES: Councilmembers Daysog and Herrera Spencer — 2.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTENTIONS: None.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the
City of Alameda on the 5th day of May 2021.
Lara Weisiger, City Clerk
City of Alameda
Approved as to form:
Yibin Shen,Xy Attorney
City of eda