The county housing division oversees about 400 subsidized homes. Photo: courtesy S.B. County

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will discuss blocking developers and housing advocates from holding voting positions on a panel that funds projects across Santa Barbara County.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will discuss blocking developers, housing advocates and other interested parties from holding voting positions on a panel that funds projects across Santa Barbara County.

The panel, known as the Affordable Housing Loan Committee, has steered millions toward subsidized homes created by a variety of private and public sector-groups.

The proposed reform follows recent audits that found widespread fraud and mismanagement in programs sponsored by the Housing and Development Department, a division created in 2003 to spur affordable housing in a region where median home prices hover around $1 million.

After one report said that 25 percent of subsidized homeowners violated at least one of the terms and conditions of occupancy -- including renting out their units and owning other properties -- supervisors have taken an aggressive stance against offenders.

They have also encouraged the county executive’s office to create broader internal controls within the department.

The proposal before Supervisors Tuesday would seek to eliminate a potential conflict of interest by preventing certain housing groups from weighing in on funding decisions that could impact them.

Under the plan, the nine-member loan committee would have one developer, one county housing affiliate and one non-profit official, as non-voting members.

Those allowed to weigh in on potential loans would include one lender from the North County and South Coast; an architect or engineer; and a representative from a city housing agency. The plan would also install one staffer from the Auditor-Controller’s and Treasurer-Tax-Collector’s Offices, as voting members.

Proposals would need at least four votes out of six to pass.

The changes followed a key finding in an audit report from last November by Auditor-Controller Bob Geis.

“Some members of the Loan Committee who approve the awards to fund could also be a key member of one of the recipient organizations," the report stated.

“Thus it would appear that a conflict of interest may exist with this process.”

County officials said staff would address several other program shortcomings later this year.

These efforts include plans to inventory the estimated 400 subsidized units under county supervision, and to collect unpaid “in-lieu fees,” or money that developers must pay if their projects don’t set aside homes for family’s that make less than $120,000 per year.

The county has also pledged to take offending homeowners to court if they fail to comply with the detailed ownership rules for subsidized homes.