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The professional services agreement with ECHO Housing includes $25,000 in service delivery expenses during fiscal year 2019/20. This funding is proposed to be appropriated from its Lower Income Housing Fund. ECHO Housing's July 2018 — June 2019 contract was in the amount of $25,000. As of June 2019, ECHO Housing expended all but $3,738.93 of its current Pleasanton portion of the contract budget. These funds are also proposed to be carried over to the proposed fiscal year 2019/20 contract, resulting in a needed additional appropriation of$21,261.07 from the Lower Income Housing Fund. 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. These programs 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 has been contracting with Hello Housing since January 2016. Key enhancements in contracting with Hello Housing included realizing greater efficiencies in implementing the City's marketing and selection process, expanded marketing and information distribution features through Hello Housing's website, and enhanced customer service including an online application tool for prospective homebuyers. As Hello Housing does not provide 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 has been contracting with ECHO Housing since January 2016 to provide these services. 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 Housing 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 (0.20 FTE) to outreach to and counsel low and moderate income first time buyers in creating savings for down payments, and to identify other resources for first-time home purchases. DISCUSSION Both Hello Housing and ECHO Housing are providing specialized essential services in support of the City of Pleasanton's homebuyer programs. Both agencies were selected in 2015 through a robust RFP process, and staff is recommending that the City Council approve professional services agreements with both to continue providing these services for fiscal year 2019/20. Hello Housing - Proposed Agreement for Fiscal Year 2019/20 Staff has been pleased with the quality and level of service provided by Hello Housing since January 2016, including the recently ended FY2018/19 and is proposing that Hello Housing continue to administer the Pleasanton Homeownership Assistance Program Page 2 of 5