House Bill hb0547c1

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002              CS/HB 547

        By the Council for Smarter Government and Committee on
    Local Government & Veterans Affairs and Representatives
    Sorensen, Brummer, Davis, Gibson, Bowen, Littlefield, Green,
    Bilirakis, Detert, Farkas, Carassas, Needelman, Pickens,
    (Additional Sponsors on Last Printed Page)


  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to affordable housing; amending

  3         s. 373.4141, F.S.; providing that processing of

  4         permit applications for affordable housing

  5         projects under pt. IV of ch. 373, F.S.,

  6         relating to management and storage of surface

  7         waters, shall be expedited; amending s.

  8         380.0552, F.S.; providing for carryover of

  9         unused residential permit units from one year

10         to a subsequent year in the Florida Keys Area;

11         amending s. 420.507, F.S.; authorizing all

12         State Apartment Incentive Loans to be subject

13         to contingent interest based upon available

14         cash flow; providing that projects for

15         occupancy by commercial fishing workers and the

16         homeless are eligible for the lowest interest

17         rate mortgage loans under the State Apartment

18         Incentive Loan Program; authorizing the Florida

19         Housing Finance Corporation to establish

20         subsidiary corporations for certain purposes

21         and to conduct and fund certain demonstration

22         programs and projects; amending s. 420.508,

23         F.S.; authorizing the corporation to establish

24         a procedure for evaluating and ranking

25         applications for private activity bond

26         allocation in connection with multifamily

27         projects and to establish terms of mortgage

28         loans; amending s. 420.5087, F.S.; providing

29         that a project located in a county that

30         includes or has included an area of critical

31         state concern for which the Legislature intends

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  1         to provide affordable housing and that meets

  2         certain income criteria is eligible under the

  3         State Apartment Incentive Loan Program;

  4         amending s. 420.526, F.S.; revising

  5         requirements relating to funding priorities

  6         under the Predevelopment Loan Program; amending

  7         s. 420.527, F.S.; revising requirements

  8         relating to the application procedure under the

  9         program and to evaluation of applicants;

10         amending s. 420.9075, F.S.; revising

11         requirements for monitoring and determining

12         tenant eligibility in connection with a local

13         housing assistance plan under the State Housing

14         Initiatives Partnership Program; revising

15         requirements for determining the average area

16         purchase price under such plans; exempting a

17         county or municipality that includes or has

18         included an area of critical state concern for

19         which the Legislature intends to provide

20         affordable housing from certain tenant income

21         requirements under such plans; revising

22         requirements for the annual report to the

23         corporation required under the program;

24         providing an effective date.

25

26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

27

28         Section 1.  Subsection (3) is added to section

29  373.4141, Florida Statutes, to read:

30         373.4141  Permits; processing.--

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  1         (3)  Processing of applications for permits for

  2  affordable housing projects shall be expedited to a greater

  3  degree than other projects.

  4         Section 2.  Subsection (10) is added to section

  5  380.0552, Florida Statutes, to read:

  6         380.0552  Florida Keys Area; protection and designation

  7  as area of critical state concern.--

  8         (10)  CARRYOVER OF UNUSED RESIDENTIAL PERMIT

  9  UNITS.--For any rate of growth ordinance adopted pursuant to

10  this section, under which an annual unit cap for new

11  residential development is established, any units not used

12  during the year for which the unit cap applies shall be

13  carried over to the subsequent year and added to the unit cap

14  for the subsequent year.

15         Section 3.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (22) of section

16  420.507, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsections (40)

17  and (41) are added to said section, to read:

18         420.507  Powers of the corporation.--The corporation

19  shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out

20  and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this part,

21  including the following powers which are in addition to all

22  other powers granted by other provisions of this part:

23         (22)  To develop and administer the State Apartment

24  Incentive Loan Program. In developing and administering that

25  program, the corporation may:

26         (a)  Make first, second, and other subordinated

27  mortgage loans including variable or fixed rate loans subject

28  to contingent interest for all State Apartment Incentive Loans

29  provided for in this chapter based upon available cash flow of

30  the projects.  The corporation shall make loans exceeding 25

31  percent of project cost available only to nonprofit

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  1  organizations and public bodies which are able to secure

  2  grants, donations of land, or contributions from other sources

  3  and to projects meeting the criteria of subparagraph 1.

  4  Mortgage loans shall be made available at the following rates

  5  of interest:

  6         1.  Zero to 3 percent interest for sponsors of projects

  7  that maintain an 80 percent occupancy of residents qualifying

  8  as farmworkers as defined in s. 420.503(18), commercial

  9  fishing workers as defined in s. 420.503(5), or the homeless

10  as defined in s. 420.621(4) over the life of the loan.

11         2.  Three to 9 percent interest for sponsors of

12  projects targeted at populations other than farmworkers,

13  commercial fishing workers, and the homeless.

14         (40)  To establish subsidiary corporations for the

15  purpose of taking title to and managing and disposing of

16  property acquired by the corporation. Such subsidiary

17  corporations shall be public corporations wholly owned by the

18  corporation; shall be entitled to own, mortgage, and sell

19  property on the same basis as the corporation; and shall be

20  deemed corporations primarily acting as agents of the state,

21  within the meaning of s. 768.28, on the same basis as the

22  corporation.

23         (41)  To conduct and fund, solely from funds derived

24  from amounts other than those deposited into the State Housing

25  Trust Fund, demonstration programs and projects which further

26  the statutory purposes of the corporation, including the power

27  to establish selection criteria by rule or by means of

28  requests for proposals.

29         Section 4.  Subsections (6) and (7) are added to

30  section 420.508, Florida Statutes, to read:

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  1         420.508  Special powers; multifamily and single-family

  2  projects.--The corporation shall have the special power to:

  3         (6)  Establish, by rule, a procedure for evaluating,

  4  scoring, and competitively ranking all applications for

  5  private activity bond allocation in connection with

  6  multifamily projects financed under this part.

  7         (7)  Establish terms of mortgage loans funded pursuant

  8  to this part, including applicable security documents and

  9  limitations on sources and uses of funds.

10         Section 5.  Subsection (2) of section 420.5087, Florida

11  Statutes, is amended to read:

12         420.5087  State Apartment Incentive Loan

13  Program.--There is hereby created the State Apartment

14  Incentive Loan Program for the purpose of providing first,

15  second, or other subordinated mortgage loans or loan

16  guarantees to sponsors, including for-profit, nonprofit, and

17  public entities, to provide housing affordable to

18  very-low-income persons.

19         (2)  The corporation shall have the power to underwrite

20  and make state apartment incentive loans or loan guarantees to

21  sponsors, provided:

22         (a)  The sponsor uses tax-exempt financing for the

23  first mortgage and at least 20 percent of the units in the

24  project are set aside for persons or families who have incomes

25  which meet the income eligibility requirements of s. 8 of the

26  United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended;

27         (b)  The sponsor uses taxable financing for the first

28  mortgage and at least 20 percent of the units in the project

29  are set aside for persons or families who have incomes below

30  50 percent of the state or local median income, whichever is

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  1  higher, which shall be adjusted by the corporation for family

  2  size; or

  3         (c)  The sponsor uses the federal low-income housing

  4  tax credit, and the project meets the tenant income

  5  eligibility requirements of s. 42 of the Internal Revenue Code

  6  of 1986, as amended; or.

  7         (d)  The project is located in a county that includes,

  8  or has included within the previous 5 years, an area of

  9  critical state concern designated or ratified by the

10  Legislature for which the Legislature has declared its intent

11  to provide affordable housing, and 100 percent of the units in

12  the project are set aside for persons or families who have

13  incomes below 120 percent of the state or local median income,

14  whichever is higher, which shall be adjusted by the

15  corporation for family size.

16

17  This subsection does not prohibit a tenant from qualifying

18  under the income eligibility criteria of paragraph (a),

19  paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), or paragraph (d) due to the

20  tenant's participation in a job training program approved by

21  the corporation.  Compliance with the provisions of this

22  subsection must be contractually provided for the term of the

23  loan or 12 years, whichever is longer; however, this

24  subsection does not apply to loans made to housing communities

25  for the elderly to provide for lifesafety, building

26  preservation, health, sanitation, or security-related repairs

27  or improvements. Such loans shall be subject to tenant income

28  criteria established by corporation rule.

29         Section 6.  Subsection (3) of section 420.526, Florida

30  Statutes, is amended to read:

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  1         420.526  Predevelopment Loan Program; loans and grants

  2  authorized; activities eligible for support.--

  3         (3)  The corporation shall establish rules for the

  4  equitable distribution of the funds in a manner that meets the

  5  need and demand for housing for the target population. Funds

  6  shall be made available under the program on a first-come,

  7  first-served basis, unless otherwise established by

  8  corporation rule. Sponsors of farmworker housing, if any,

  9  shall receive first priority under this program, and further

10  priorities shall be as established by rule of the corporation.

11         Section 7.  Section 420.527, Florida Statutes, is

12  amended to read:

13         420.527  Application procedure.--

14         (1)  Applications shall be submitted to the corporation

15  in a form that it establishes by rule.

16         (2)  Applications that propose linkage of

17  predevelopment funds with other financing offered through the

18  corporation shall receive preference in funding.

19         (3)  The corporation shall publish a notice of fund

20  availability in a publication of general circulation

21  throughout the state.  Such notice shall be published at least

22  60 days before the application deadline.

23         (2)(4)  By rule, the corporation shall establish the

24  criteria a review committee composed of representatives of the

25  corporation and a scoring system for determining threshold

26  compliance with corporation objectives evaluating and ranking

27  applications.  Final decisions regarding funding shall be

28  approved by the corporation board shall make the final ranking

29  and shall decide which applicants become program participants

30  based on the scores received in the ranking, further review of

31  applications, and the recommendations of the review committee.

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  1  The corporation board shall approve or reject applications for

  2  loans and grants and shall determine the tentative loan or

  3  grant amount available to each program participant.  The

  4  actual loan or grant amount shall be determined pursuant to

  5  rule specifying credit underwriting procedures.

  6         (3)(5)  The criteria to be used to determine threshold

  7  compliance score applications shall include, but are not

  8  limited to, the following:

  9         (a)  Income target objectives of the corporation.

10         (b)  Sponsor's agreement to reserve more than the

11  minimum number of units for low-income households and

12  very-low-income households.

13         (c)  Projects requiring the least amount of

14  predevelopment funds compared to total predevelopment costs.

15         (d)  Sponsor's prior experience.

16         (e)  Commitments of other financing.

17         (f)  Sponsor's ability to proceed.

18         (g)  Project's consistency with the local government

19  comprehensive plan.

20         Section 8.  Paragraph (e) of subsection (3), paragraphs

21  (c) and (d) of subsection (4), and paragraph (c) of subsection

22  (9) of section 420.9075, Florida Statutes, are amended to

23  read:

24         420.9075  Local housing assistance plans;

25  partnerships.--

26         (3)  Each local housing assistance plan is governed by

27  the following criteria and administrative procedures:

28         (e)  The staff or entity that has administrative

29  authority for implementing a local housing assistance plan

30  assisting rental developments shall annually monitor and

31  determine tenant eligibility or, to the extent another

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  1  governmental entity the Florida Housing Finance Corporation

  2  provides the same monitoring and determination, a

  3  municipality, county, or local housing financing authority may

  4  rely on such monitoring and determination of tenant

  5  eligibility. However, any loan or grant in the original amount

  6  of $3,000 or less shall not be subject to these annual

  7  monitoring and determination of tenant eligibility

  8  requirements.

  9         (4)  The following criteria apply to awards made to

10  eligible sponsors or eligible persons for the purpose of

11  providing eligible housing:

12         (c)  The sales price or value of new or existing

13  eligible housing may not exceed 90 percent of the average area

14  purchase price in the statistical area in which the eligible

15  housing is located, which housing was purchased during the

16  most recent 12-month period for which sufficient statistical

17  information is available or, as established by the United

18  States Department of Treasury. Such average area purchase

19  price may be that calculated for any 12-month period beginning

20  not earlier than the fourth calendar year prior to the year in

21  which the award occurs.

22         (d)1.  All units constructed, rehabilitated, or

23  otherwise assisted with the funds provided from the local

24  housing assistance trust fund must be occupied by

25  very-low-income persons, low-income persons, and

26  moderate-income persons.

27         2.  At least 30 percent of the funds deposited into the

28  local housing assistance trust fund must be reserved for

29  awards to very-low-income persons or eligible sponsors who

30  will serve very-low-income persons and at least an additional

31  30 percent of the funds deposited into the local housing

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  1  assistance trust fund must be reserved for awards to

  2  low-income persons or eligible sponsors who will serve

  3  low-income persons. This subparagraph does not apply to a

  4  county or an eligible municipality that includes, or has

  5  included within the previous 5 years, an area of critical

  6  state concern designated or ratified by the Legislature for

  7  which the Legislature has declared its intent to provide

  8  affordable housing.

  9

10  If both an award under the local housing assistance plan and

11  federal low-income housing tax credits are used to assist a

12  project and there is a conflict between the criteria

13  prescribed in this subsection and the requirements of s. 42 of

14  the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the county or

15  eligible municipality may resolve the conflict by giving

16  precedence to the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal

17  Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in lieu of following the

18  criteria prescribed in this subsection with the exception of

19  paragraphs (a) and (d) of this subsection.

20         (9)  Each county or eligible municipality shall submit

21  to the corporation by September 15 of each year a report of

22  its affordable housing programs and accomplishments through

23  June 30 immediately preceding submittal of the report. The

24  report shall be certified as accurate and complete by the

25  local government's chief elected official or his or her

26  designee. Transmittal of the annual report by a county's or

27  eligible municipality's chief elected official, or his or her

28  designee, certifies that the local housing incentive

29  strategies, or, if applicable, the local housing incentive

30  plan, have been implemented or are in the process of being

31  implemented pursuant to the adopted schedule for

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  1  implementation. The report must include, but is not limited

  2  to:

  3         (c)  The average area purchase sales price or value of

  4  a single-family units unit and the amount of rent charged for

  5  a rental unit based on unit size.

  6         Section 9.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  7  law.

  8

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12                       ADDITIONAL SPONSORS

13
    Bullard, Holloway, Jennings, Kilmer, Melvin, Trovillion,
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    Maygarden, Goodlette, Diaz-Balart, Byrd, Flanagan, Paul,
15
    Kravitz, Simmons, Cantens, Heyman, Harrington, Ryan, Evers,
16
    Ausley, Sobel, Seiler, Clarke, Spratt and Arza
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