Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority An Affordable Workforce Housing Program, 1019 COBJ, Vol. 48, No. 9 Pg. 44
| Author | By BETHANY SPITZ |
| Position | Vol. 48, 9 [Page 44] |
FEATURE REAL ESTATE LAW
By BETHANY SPITZ
This third article in the Affordable Housing Series looks at the Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority’s affordable workforce housing program.
The City of Aspen and Pitkin County manage an affordable workforce housing program for qualified employees within their jurisdiction. This article discusses the housing program's formation and management.
The Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority
The Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority (APCHA) was created in 1982, when the City of Aspen (the City) and Pitkin County (the County) signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) in accordance with the Colorado Constitution and the Colorado Revised Statutes.1Previously, the City and the County had operated separate housing programs to meet the acute need to provide affordable housing for resident employees living in their high-cost resort communities. Under applicable CRS provisions and the IGA, APCHA was instituted as a separate multi jurisdictional governmental entity with powers to, among other things, acquire and dispose of property; plan, construct, and manage affordable workforce housing; make contracts; hire employees; and raise revenues to fund the program.
APCHA is governed by a five-member Board of Directors (the Housing Board) appointed by the Aspen City Council (the Council) and the Board of County Commissioners of Pitkin County (the BOCC). The Housing Board establishes affordable housing policies, including compliance and enforcement. An executive director and staff manage and operate APCHA in accordance with the City of Aspen Land Use Regulations, the Pitkin County Land Use Code, and APCHA's Employee Housing Guidelines (Housing Guidelines),2 which are updated regularly.
APCHA's mission is to provide affordable workforce housing for the community and local economy. APCHA manages the largest resort-based deed-restricted inventory in North America relative to population, with over 3,000 deed-restricted units, including ownership and rentals.
APCHA's governing principles aim to ensure the program can operate into the future. The governing principles are to:
■ provide affordable housing opportunities to full-time permanent working residents who provide or have provided goods and services to individuals, businesses, or institutional operations within Aspen and Pitkin County;
■ provide housing opportunities for full-time seasonal workers;
■ promote the development and maintenance of housing that is affordable to a cross section of socio-economic sectors;
■ promote program transparency and improved decision making through accurate, reliable, valid real-time data;
■ strive for 100% program compliance by enforcing the Housing Guidelines and all deed restrictions;
■ demonstrate program value to the community and taxpayers; and
■ safeguard the housing program for future generations to come.
IGA Historical Overview
Since the program's inception in the early 1980s, APCHA's IGA has undergone six changes aimed at addressing the evolving needs and challenges of the housing program. The IGA now operates under its sixth revision, which was renegotiated inMay2019.3 The latest amendments are focused on four areas:
1. Housing Board composition.
The Board originally comprised seven directors—three appointed by the Council, three appointed by the BOCC, and one jointly appointed, with one director from the BOCC and one from the Council. The third IGA changed the composition of the Housing Board to five directors, but none of those directors could be a Council or BOCC member. The fifth IGA increased the number of directors on the Housing Board back to seven, plus one alternate. The sixth IGA, adopted in 2019, reduced the number of voting directors back to five, plus three alternates. The current board comprises one voting county commissioner, one alternate county commissioner, one voting councilperson, one alternate councilperson, and three voting citizens appointed jointly by Aspen and Pitkin County, plus one citizen alternate.
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Term limits.
The term limits were changed in the third version of the IGA from two years to four years for all members. The newly revised IGA limits terms for all directors to two consecutive four-year terms.
3. Reporting structure.
The first and second IGAs provided that the executive director was to be appointed by the Housing Board. The third IGA changed the executive director’s reporting structure by requiring him or her to report directly to the City Manager. Under the current IGA, the executive director and staff are employees of the City of Aspen and follow all City personnel policies.
4. Power of the Authority.
Under previous versions of the IGA, the Board made policy recommendations to the Council and the BOCC. Using a call-up procedure, the Board would forward any policy recommendations (resolutions) to the Council and the BOCC for review. The Council and the BOCC then had the option to call up the resolution within 60 days to discuss and approve it, with or without changes. If a call-up was not requested by either jurisdiction within 60 days, the recommendations would be adopted and incorporated into the Housing Guidelines. However, under the sixth IGA, the call-up procedure was eliminated, which gives the Board final authority on all policy matters.
Program Oversight
In addition to the IGA, the City and County’s affordable housing development is enabled by state law;[4] City of Aspen Land Use Regulations (Municipal Code Title 26); and the Pitkin County Land Use Code (Title 8). APCHA’s deed restrictions and the Housing Guidelines govern the program’s specific qualifications and operations.
Deed-Restriction Policies
APCHA’s workforce housing is deed-restricted housing for qualified employees. At a minimum, employees are required to (1) prove permanent residency (i.e., they must reside in the unit a minimum of nine months a year); (2) work in Pitkin County at least 1,500 hours per calendar year; and (3) own no other developed residential property in the Ownership Exclusion Zone (OEZ).
[5] APCHA’s standard deed restriction (Appendix) applies the Housing Guidelines to specific properties. The provisions of the deed restriction have evolved over time.A current deed restriction is placed on most affordable ownership properties at resale. At closing, the buyer and APCHA sign the deed restriction, which is then filed with the Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder. The deed restriction outlines the requirements that both parties agree to follow and the consequences for failing to comply with those requirements. In most cases the deed restriction requires APCHA to act as the transaction broker for future sales of deed-restricted units.
APCHA rental and ownership housing is primarily developed by the City and County but managed by APCHA according to the Housing Guidelines. APCHA oversees approximately 1,400 rental units. Of these, APCHA privately manages about 400 units, with the remaining managed by private interests. The majority of deed-restricted ownership units are sold through APCHA and managed by nonprofit homeowners’ associations (HOAs), depending on the property. Each HOA is responsible for maintaining common elements of the property with the power to assess owners as necessary. Prospective tenants and owners apply and qualify through APCHA. Once in the program, a tenant or owner will occupy the unit under the terms of their respective lease or HOA, and in compliance with the deed restriction and the Housing Guidelines.
APCHA also requires owners to pay their monthly assessments in compliance with the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act’s (CCIOA) responsible governance policies. The HOA must show compliance with CCIOA in each collection case.
APCHA Housing Guidelines
The Housing Guidelines are the rules and regulations for APCHA, the homeowners, and tenants. They work in tandem with the deed restrictions to provide the requirements for each party.
The Housing Guidelines have been regularly amended since 1982 to match the changing times and needs of the program. The APCHA executive director reviews the Housing Guidelines annually to propose policy changes to the Housing Board. The Housing Board then solicits public comment through a public hearing process before approving any amendments by resolution.
Affordable Housing Funding
Workforce housing in the City of Aspen and Pitkin County is supported by funding from the City, the County, and APCHA. Revenues come from a variety of sources, including customer fees. Generally, two-thirds of APCHA’s annual revenues are generated by fees, while one-third is covered by an operational subsidy, which is split 50/50 by the City and County. The City and County also require private sector developers to mitigate the relative impact of development through various fees (e.g., in-lieu fees and impact fees). These fees are often used to build new affordable workforce housing.
The City also maintains a Housing Development Fund dedicated to workforce housing, which has several sources of funding within the City of Aspen:
■ A housing real estate transfer tax (RETT) of 1% is charged on the sale price of private real property sold within the City of Aspen, but the first $100,000 of value is exempted. The housing RETT has been renewed by referendum three times, most recently in 2001, and will remain in effect until December 31, 2040.6
■ A portion of the city sales tax is dedicated to housing. Affordable housing and day care programs currently share .45% of the city sales tax as determined by the Council.7
■...
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