4 18-1483 Subject: RAP Fee Increase
From: Housing And Community Development Department
Recommendation: Adopt An Ordinance Amending Ordinance No. 13497 C.M.S. (The 2018-19 Master Fee Schedule) To Increase The Rent Adjustment Program Service Fee From $68.00 Per Unit To $101.00 Per Unit
The proposed increase in the RAP fee is unjustified. The fee was increased from $30 to $68 in 2016. According to the RAP program annual report submitted to the Council in a separate hearing today, the program had about a 1.9 million dollar surplus last year. There has also been a substantial decrease in the number of petitions filed at the Board. This fee increase will harm small housing providers and it is unnecessary.
My concern with the proposed increase in the RAP fee is that the council is acting without transparency and on the basis of faulty data. No transparency has been provided to the Oaklanders (property owners and tenants) upon whom you propose to levy this additional fee. To date, the public has not been provided with the annual report mandated by Measure JJ. It is overdue by more than a year. The figures cited by city administrator in her report—that the passage of Measures JJ and Y led to an increase of 10,000 covered units—are highly suspect. They must be properly substantiated with APNs or publicly corrected.
My husband and I both oppose this increase in RAP fees as it hurts the landlord with 2-3 units who elects to keep their rent stable for excellent tenants rather than passing on the cost of this fee to their tenants. Why is a 48% increase necessary? This increase seems excessive and unwarranted.
The proposed increase in the RAP fee is unjustified. The fee was increased from $30 to $68 in 2016. According to the RAP program annual report submitted to the Council in a separate hearing today, the program had about a 1.9 million dollar surplus last year. There has also been a substantial decrease in the number of petitions filed at the Board. This fee increase will harm small housing providers and it is unnecessary.
My concern with the proposed increase in the RAP fee is that the council is acting without transparency and on the basis of faulty data. No transparency has been provided to the Oaklanders (property owners and tenants) upon whom you propose to levy this additional fee. To date, the public has not been provided with the annual report mandated by Measure JJ. It is overdue by more than a year. The figures cited by city administrator in her report—that the passage of Measures JJ and Y led to an increase of 10,000 covered units—are highly suspect. They must be properly substantiated with APNs or publicly corrected.
My husband and I both oppose this increase in RAP fees as it hurts the landlord with 2-3 units who elects to keep their rent stable for excellent tenants rather than passing on the cost of this fee to their tenants. Why is a 48% increase necessary? This increase seems excessive and unwarranted.