HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-08-17 - Agendas - FinalAGENDA
PUBLIC FACILITIES BOARD
AUGUST 17,2021
David Pryor Center
Second floor 6pm
U of A Community Design center
Welcome
Roll Call
Approve Agenda
1. Presentation and open discussion on Affordable housing design
by Community Design Center Steve Luoni
2. Report from Hugh Earnest on several issues as follows
a. Possible use of the Community Reinvestment Act that requires
banks to invest in communities
b. Assisting the Central EMS ambulance service in acquiring a site
and constructing a new headquarters. We would issue the
bonds for the project.
c. Opening a discussion at the board level on re -visiting the
possible use of land adjacent to the Senior center in Walker
Park for construction of low -moderate income housing
3. The Walton Family is broadening their focus under the word
Diversity. I will try to get some information from a personal
contact on how they plan to proceed.
4. Open board discussion on our next steps
THE COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT
CDFIs help banks meet CRA requirements
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was passed by Congress in 1977 as part of an effort to
ensure banks met the credit needs of all communities. The Act established a community
reinvestment standard for banks to follow. Each bank is evaluated regularly by the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), or the
appropriate Federal Reserve Bank depending on bank charter. These agencies evaluate each
bank based on size criteria and assign a grade ranging from Substantial Noncompliance to
Outstanding, reflective of how well they are meeting credit needs of borrowers in their service
areas. These grades are critical to a bank's growth since a negative rating can slow or even
prevent a bank from merging or expanding.
In an attempt to strengthen the regulations and ensure the CRA is an effective tool for getting
credit to all communities and their borrowers, the bank regulators issued revised regulation in
1995. Since these changes, banks have become the fastest -growing lending source to CDFIs. A
figure from CDFI Futures: An Industry at a Crossroads by Jeremy Nowak displays this trend. As
the graph points out, since 2001, banks have dramatically grown as the provider of debt capital
to CDFIs.
Like many CDFIs, CRF has benefited from this trend. Throughout our history, banks have been a
key partner for CRF. Since our inception in 1988, we have partnered with more than 30 banks,
securing more than $214 million in the form of Program Related Investments (PRIs), Equity
Equivalent Investments (EQ2s), grants and other sources.
CRF is always looking for innovative ways to work with banks to support communities. In 2014,
CRF authored a comment letter to the Bank Regulatory Agencies, urging them to give positive
consideration for banks that have developed structured referral relationships with CDFIs. When
a prospective borrower falls just outside of a bank's lending requirements, it can often mean the
end of a dream for an entrepreneur but a referral relationship can change that outcome. We
believe banks that refer their "near misses" to partner CDFIs should be rewarded for their
efforts to help borrowers find appropriate credit products. To learn more read our comment
letter on the topic.