South Lake Tahoe City Council gives rental assistance and abandoned structures items a yes, rental registry a no

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The South Lake Tahoe City Council heard several items during its meeting on Tuesday, including the passing of items meant to alleviate housing issues in the community.

Rental Assistance

The Council voted to spend $200,000 on a Rental Assistance Program (RAP) where the City would pay landlords security deposits as a zero-interest loan for income-qualifying individuals or households. Once a lease is signed and an application is submitted, the loan will be made. the amount would be based on the number of bedrooms and for a minimum of six months for current city residents, and 12 months for others. This is to help people get out of weekly motel rentals and into secure housing, for example.

For a studio and one-bedroom rental, the City will assist with up to $1,500. For a two-bedroom and more, the City will assist with up to $2,000.

When the lease is terminated, the property owner will return the security deposit to the City. If the property owner has to use any portion of the security deposit for a specified purpose the tenant is responsible for paying the remaining gap to the city. The City will provide application fees as a grant to individuals and/or households whose income is at and below 60 percent of the Area Median Income.

Funds for the program will come from Cannabis Revenue funds.

If a renter moves out without a deposit being left over, the City will be working with them on the collection of the loan, or possibly issuing a 1099 as it is now income for the renter - that will be determined.

Rental Registry

"Rental registries don't alleviate the housing crisis," said local property manager Michelle Benedict.

A rental registry would require housing providers to give the City data on renters, the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, rent, rent increases (or decreases), and more. Staff said the data would inform council members and staff on current housing trends to better address the existing and future needs of renters and landlords.

Data is necessary to make informed decisions and get a stronger pulse on the rental situation in South Lake Tahoe, but there were points made on each side of the issue about the positive and negative points of the proposed registry.

Local property managers asked the Council to work with them to get information and not require the rental unit owners to fill out the paperwork annually, both as a privacy issue and labor and time needed to complete. Those who rent a single home would not be required to provide information for the registry.

"It's none of business," said Councilmember Tamara Wallace of collecting the rent data.

The area median income of the area is available at the county, not city, level, but not the income of tenants in rentals. The data in a registry would be incomplete.

Without Mayor Cody Bass in attendance, the 2-2 Council vote ended up as a failure to the proposed registry. Councilmembers Wallace and Cristi Creegan voted against it.

Councilman Scott Robbins wanted the issue reagendized when a full council is present, but he couldn't get the support of the council majority so he'll try to get it added through agenda planning in the future.

Public Nuisances Consisting of Abandoned Structures

The City Council unanimously approved amendments to the code that will address abandoned, damaged, and partially constructed structures that constitute blight, become attractive nuisances, lower property values, and are a source of frustration to neighborhoods.

City Code amendments will allow partially constructed non-dwelling structures for 180 days or longer to be addressed through abatement, administrative citation, and/or any other alternative abatement process permitted by state law. The owner(s) of any boarded dwelling building, whether boarded by voluntary action of the owner or as a result of enforcement activity by the city, shall cause the boarded building to be
rehabilitated for occupancy within 90 days after written notification by the city.

The amendments will also create more consistency in the procedures for addressing dwelling and non-dwelling structures, creating more clarity and ease of administration.