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Housing Fund. Hello Housing expended $42,415 of its $77,908 contract covering the prior January 2016 through June 2017 period, leaving a balance of $35,493 in unexpended funds. These funds are proposed to be carried over to the proposed fiscal year 2017/18 contract, resulting in a needed additional appropriation of$46,441 from the Lower Income Housing Fund. The professional services agreement with ECHO Housing includes $110,000 in service delivery expenses during fiscal year 2017/18 of which half ($55,000) is proposed to be paid by Pleasanton and appropriated from its Lower Income Housing Fund. ECHO Housing's January 2016-June 2017 contract (also shared equally between the Cities of Livermore and Pleasanton) was in the amount of $165,000. As of March 2017, ECHO Housing expended all but$15,099 of its current Pleasanton portion of the contract budget, and ECHO Housing anticipates submitting for the remaining balance by the end of June. BACKGROUND In 2014, the cities of Livermore, Dublin and Pleasanton collaborated to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify agencies that could provide administration support and homebuyer counseling services for the City's Below Market Rate (BMR) Homeownership Programs and other First Time Homebuyer Programs which were previously provided by the Tri-Valley Housing Opportunity Center (TVHOC). Hello Housing was selected as the firm most qualified to provide the BMR administration services requested in the RFP and both the cities of Livermore and Pleasanton approved entering contracts with Hello Housing in December 2015 for an 18-month term from January 2016 through June 2017. The cities had previous history working with Hello Housing on processing first-time homebuyers through the federally-funded Neighborhood Stabilization Programs and in partnership on other housing development activities. Key enhancements in contracting with Hello Housing were realizing greater efficiencies in implementing the City's marketing and selection process, expanded marketing and information distribution features through Hello's website, and enhanced customer service including an online application tool for prospective homebuyers. As Hello Housing does not provide the first-time homebuyer education services, including the mandatory 8-Hour HUD-certified First Time Homebuyer seminar, required by the City of Pleasanton's first time homebuyer programs and by many state and federal down payment assistance programs, the City also contracted with ECHO Housing at that time for an 18-month contract that commenced in January 2016 and will end in June 2017 and in which it shared in costs equally with the City of Livermore. ECHO Housing, which has a long history of providing fair housing services in the Tri-Valley, is a HUD-certified housing counseling agency with experience providing first time homebuyer education workshops (including several in Pleasanton each year) through grants received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). ECHO has been providing its services from a housing resource center at 141 North Livermore Avenue [the former site of the Tri-Valley Housing Opportunity Center (TVHOC). They provide a part-time dedicated homebuyer counselor (0.57 FTE) and staff support (0.51 FTE) to outreach to and counsel low and moderate income first time buyers in creating savings for downpayments, and to identify other resources for first-time home purchases. Both Hello Housing and ECHO Housing are providing specialized essential services in support of the City of Pleasanton's homebuyer programs, and as both agencies were selected in 2015 through a robust RFP process, staff is recommending that the City Page 2 of 7