ORDINANCE NO. 260658
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Sponsor: Councilmember Melissa Patterson Hazley
Amending Chapter 2, Code of Ordinances by enacting a new Chapter 2-1694, Code of Ordinances, entitled “Housing Accelerator Fund,” to provide funding grant awards for the rehabilitation and the return to productive use of abandoned, nuisance, and distressed residential properties in disinvested neighborhoods; establishing the Housing Accelerator Fund in the records of the City of Kansas City, Missouri; reducing previously appropriated funds in the General Fund (1000) by $500,000.00; appropriating $500,000.00 from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the General Fund (1000) and appropriating a like transfer to the Housing Accelerator Fund (2910); reducing previously appropriated funds in the Development Services Fund (2210) by $250,000.00; appropriating $250,000.00 from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the Development Services Fund (2210) and appropriating a like transfer to the Housing Accelerator Fund (2910); appropriating $750,000.00 from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the Housing Accelerator Fund (2910) to provide gap funding for the rehabilitation of eligible residential properties by qualified rehabilitation partners; designating requisitioning authority; and recognizing this ordinance as having an accelerated effective date.
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WHEREAS, certain Kansas City neighborhoods continue to experience high concentrations of residential vacancy, abandonment, dangerous structures, tax delinquency, and disinvestment, which contribute to reduced property values, increased crime, public safety concerns, and neighborhood instability; and
WHEREAS, these conditions create public safety concerns, limit housing opportunity, and require targeted intervention beyond the capacity of existing redevelopment tools, which often lack flexible funding for major rehabilitation of severely distressed residential structures; and
WHEREAS, the City seeks to return abandoned and nuisance residential properties to productive use by establishing the Housing Accelerator Fund to support strategic rehabilitation projects that reduce blight, stabilize neighborhoods, expand affordable homeownership opportunities, and leverage private investment; and
WHEREAS, neighborhoods meeting objective distress criteria-including high residential vacancy, CDBG eligibility, designated target areas, or other blight indicators-require prioritized investment to reverse cycles of decline and promote long-term revitalization; and
WHEREAS, eligible properties include receivership properties, public nuisance properties, and strategic acquisition properties identified by the City as priorities for stabilization, ensuring that public resources are directed toward the most impactful rehabilitation opportunities; and
WHEREAS, limiting participation to Qualified Housing Accelerator Rehabilitation Partners selected through a competitive qualifications-based process and possessing demonstrated experience, good standing, and compliance with applicable licensing and workforce requirements will protect public investment and promote high-quality rehabilitation outcomes; and
WHEREAS, awards will be made through a competitive process limited to those prequalified partners and based on neighborhood impact, feasibility, affordability commitments, and long-term stabilization benefits; and
WHEREAS, public investment must result in public benefit, and therefore recipients will be required to provide owner-occupancy opportunities or maintain long-term affordability for rental units, preventing speculation and supporting sustainable neighborhood revitalization; and
WHEREAS, the Council finds that establishing a dedicated Housing Accelerator Fund to provide gap funding for the rehabilitation of eligible residential properties by qualified rehabilitation partners serves a public purpose and complements existing housing and redevelopment programs of the City; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 260205 appropriated $750,000 in the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget for major home repair including $500,000.00 from the General Fund and $250,000.00 from the Development Services Fund; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That Chapter 2, Code of Ordinances, is hereby amended by enacting a new Section 2-1694 entitled “Housing Accelerator Fund,” to read as follows:
SECTION 2-1694. HOUSING ACCELERATOR FUND
Sec. 2-1694.1 Purpose.
The purpose of this Chapter is to support the rehabilitation and return to productive use abandoned, nuisance, and distressed residential properties located in the City’s most disinvested neighborhoods, thereby reducing blight, increasing housing opportunity, stabilizing property values, expanding affordable homeownership, and encouraging long-term neighborhood revitalization. Money in the Fund is intended to provide gap funding that complements existing housing and redevelopment programs.
Sec. 2-1694.2. Definitions.
For purposes of this Chapter, the following terms mean:
“Director” means the Director of the Neighborhood Services Department or the Director’s designee.
“Fund” means the Housing Accelerator Fund.
“Prequalified Pool” means the group of Qualified Housing Accelerator Rehabilitation Partners selected pursuant to this Chapter and eligible to compete for awards from the Fund.
“Qualified Housing Accelerator Rehabilitation Partner” means a person or entity selected for inclusion in the Prequalified Pool through a competitive process and that meets the requirements of Section 2-1694.6.
“Target Area” means any area that satisfies at least one of the following criteria: (1) a residential vacancy rate of at least 40 percent; (2) location within a census tract eligible for assistance under the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program or an area designated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as a low-to-moderate income area; (3) designation by the Council as a housing accelerator target area; or (4) the presence of other blight indicators approved by ordinance. The Director shall document the criterion relied upon for each Target Area.
Sec. 2-1694.3. Administration of the Fund.
The Director shall administer the Fund and this Chapter. The Director may adopt administrative regulations, consistent with this Chapter, governing the prequalification of participants, the establishment and maintenance of the Prequalified Pool, project-specific competitive solicitations applications, awards, disbursement, monitoring, and enforcement.
Sec. 2-1694.4. Eligible Properties.
Money in the Fund may be used only for residential properties that satisfy each of the following requirements:
(a) Property type. The property is a single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex. Commercial properties, mixed-use developments, vacant commercial structures, industrial properties, new construction projects, and market-rate multifamily developments exceeding four units are not eligible.
(b) Geographic requirement. The property is located within a Target Area as defined in Section 2-1694.2.
(c) Property condition. The property must meet one or more of the following conditions:
(1) Receivership property. The property has been placed into court-appointed receivership, is eligible for receivership proceedings, and has documented abandonment.
(2) Public nuisance property. The property is cited for dangerous building violations, chronic code violations, unsafe occupancy conditions, or long-term vacancy.
(3) Strategic acquisition property. The property has been identified by the City as a priority for neighborhood stabilization.
Sec. 2-1694.5. Allowable and Prohibited Expenditures.
Money in the Fund may be used for:
(a) Major rehabilitation, including structural repairs, roof replacement, foundation repair, mechanical systems, plumbing, electrical, environmental remediation, accessibility improvements, and code compliance work; and
(b) Acquisition and stabilization, including emergency stabilization, property securing, and site preparation directly associated with rehabilitation.
Money in the Fund may not be used for new construction, luxury improvements, commercial redevelopment, routine maintenance, administrative overhead exceeding 10% of an award, property speculation, or demolition without an approved redevelopment plan.
Sec. 2-1694.6. Prequalification of Housing Accelerator Rehabilitation Partners.
(a) The Director shall establish a Prequalified Pool of persons and entities eligible to compete for awards from the Fund. The Prequalified Pool shall be established through a publicly advertised Request for Qualifications or other competitive qualifications-based selection process.
(b) To be selected for inclusion in the Prequalified Pool, a person or entity shall:
(1) demonstrate successful experience in the rehabilitation of residential properties;
(2) demonstrate sufficient financial, managerial, and organizational capacity to complete rehabilitation projects;
(3) maintain good standing with the City and demonstrate a satisfactory record of compliance with applicable City contracts, agreements, ordinances, and program requirements;
(4) satisfy applicable licensing, insurance, workforce, and other legal requirements;
(5) demonstrate the ability to complete projects within established budgets and timeframes; and
(6) demonstrate the ability and willingness to comply with the required affordability and occupancy requirements.
(c) The Request for Qualifications may establish additional qualifications, submission requirements, evaluation criteria, minimum scoring requirements, and other standards consistent with this Chapter.
(d) The Director may establish a term for participation in the Prequalified Pool and may periodically reopen, renew, or conduct a new qualifications process to add or requalify participants.
(e) The Director may suspend or remove a participant from the Prequalified Pool for failure to maintain the required qualifications, failure to perform satisfactorily, noncompliance with an award agreement, or other grounds established by administrative regulation or the applicable solicitation.
(f) Selection for inclusion in the Prequalified Pool does not constitute an award of Fund money and does not create any right or entitlement to receive an award or participate in any particular project.
Sec. 2-1694.7. Competitive Selection of Projects.
Awards from the Fund shall be made through a competitive process limited to Qualified Housing Accelerator Rehabilitation Partners included in the Prequalified Pool. The Neighborhood Services Department shall issue a Request for Proposals or other competitive solicitation identifying the eligible properties or projects, available funding, applicable requirements, and evaluation criteria.
Evaluation criteria may include neighborhood impact, cost effectiveness, rehabilitation feasibility, readiness to proceed, time to completion, affordability commitments, past performance, and long-term stabilization benefits. Selection for the Prequalified Pool does not guarantee an award.
Sec. 2-1694.8. Public Benefit Conditions.
As a condition of any award, a Qualified Housing Accelerator Rehabilitation Partner shall comply with one of the following:
(a) Homeownership Option. The recipient shall sell each completed property to one or more individual persons who agree to own and occupy the property, or at least one dwelling unit within the property, as their principal residence for a period of not less than five years following the date of purchase. If the purchaser sells or transfers the property or ceases to occupy it as a principal residence during the five-year period, the purchaser shall repay to the City the amount of the award attributable to the property. The owner-occupancy and repayment requirements shall be secured by an agreement, deed restriction, deed of trust, or other instrument approved by the City; or
(b) Rental Option, if permitted by the Director. The recipient shall maintain each assisted unit as affordable to households with incomes at or below 80 percent of area median income (AMI), adjusted for household size, for a period of not less than 15 years and shall comply with local housing quality standards.
The Council may prioritize owner-occupancy as a policy goal in the administration of the Fund.
Sec. 2-1694.9. Reporting.
The Director shall report annually to the Council on the activities of the Fund, including the number of properties rehabilitated, the number of housing units created or preserved and the number that are affordable, the awards made, and the expenditures from the Fund.
Section 2. That the “Housing Accelerator Fund” (the “Fund”) is established within the City Treasury.
Section 3. That the appropriation in the following account of the General Fund is hereby reduced by the following amount:
27-1000-552349-619080 Neighborhood Initiatives $500,000.00
Section 4. That the sum of $500,000.00 is hereby appropriated from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the General Fund to the following account:
27-1000-129998-902910 Transfer to Housing Accelerator Fund $500,000.00
Section 5. That the appropriation in the following account of the Development Services Fund is hereby reduced by the following amount:
27-2210-552349-619080 Neighborhood Initiatives $250,000.00
Section 6. That the sum of $250,000.00 is hereby appropriated from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the Development Services Fund to the following account:
27-2210-129998-902910 Transfer to Housing Accelerator Fund $250,000.00
Section 7. That the revenue estimate in the following account of the Housing Accelerator Fund, Fund No. 2910, is hereby increased by the following amounts:
27-2910-120000-501000 Transfer from the General Fund $500,000.00
27-2910-120000-502210 Transfer from the Development Services Fund 250,000.00
TOTAL $750,000.00
Section 8. That the sum of $750,000.00 is hereby appropriated from the Unappropriated Fund Balance of the Housing Accelerator Fund, to the following account:
27-2910-572349-619080 Neighborhood Initiatives $750,000.00
Section 9. That the Director of the Neighborhood Services Department is designated as requisitioning authority for Account No. 27-2910-572349-619080.
Section 10. That this ordinance, relating to the appropriation of money, is recognized as an ordinance with an accelerated effective date as provided by Section 503(a)(3) of the City Charter and shall take effect in accordance with that section.
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I hereby certify that there is a balance, otherwise unencumbered, to the credit of the appropriation to which the foregoing expenditure is to be charged, and a cash balance, otherwise unencumbered, in the treasury, to the credit of the fund from which payment is to be made, each sufficient to meet the obligation hereby incurred.
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Director of Finance
Approved as to form:
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Joseph A. Guarino
Senior Associate City Attorney