Florida Senate - 2015                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1500
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì813134zÎ813134                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/16/2015           .                                
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       Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and
       Economic Development (Latvala) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 421 - 612
    4  and insert:
    5  420.9075(5)(i) s. 420.9075(5)(h) from eligible persons or
    6  eligible sponsors, which funds were not used for assistance to
    7  an eligible household for an eligible activity, when there is a
    8  default on the terms of a grant award or loan award.
    9         (26) “Rent subsidies” means ongoing monthly rental
   10  assistance. The term does not include initial assistance to
   11  tenants, such as grants or loans for security and utility
   12  deposits.
   13         Section 6. Subsection (7) of section 420.9072, Florida
   14  Statutes, is amended, present subsections (8) and (9) of that
   15  section are redesignated as subsections (9) and (10),
   16  respectively, and a new subsection (8) is added to that section,
   17  to read:
   18         420.9072 State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program.—The
   19  State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program is created for the
   20  purpose of providing funds to counties and eligible
   21  municipalities as an incentive for the creation of local housing
   22  partnerships, to expand production of and preserve affordable
   23  housing, to further the housing element of the local government
   24  comprehensive plan specific to affordable housing, and to
   25  increase housing-related employment.
   26         (7) A county or an eligible municipality must expend its
   27  portion of the local housing distribution only to implement a
   28  local housing assistance plan or as provided in this subsection.
   29  A county or an eligible municipality may not expend its portion
   30  of the local housing distribution to provide rent subsidies;
   31  however, this does not prohibit the use of funds for security
   32  and utility deposit assistance.
   33         (8)A county or an eligible municipality may not expend its
   34  portion of the local housing distribution to provide ongoing
   35  rent subsidies, except for:
   36         (a)Security and utility deposit assistance.
   37         (b)Eviction prevention not to exceed 6 months’ rent.
   38         (c)A rent subsidy program for very-low-income households
   39  with at least one adult who is a person with special needs as
   40  defined in s. 420.0004 or homeless as defined in s. 420.621. The
   41  period of rental assistance may not exceed 12 months for any
   42  eligible household.
   43         Section 7. Present subsections (5) through (7) of section
   44  420.9073, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (6)
   45  through (8), and a new subsection (5) is added to that section,
   46  to read:
   47         420.9073 Local housing distributions.—
   48         (5) Notwithstanding subsections (1) through (4), the
   49  corporation shall first distribute 4 percent of the total amount
   50  to be distributed in a given fiscal year from the Local
   51  Government Housing Trust Fund to the Department of Children and
   52  Families and the Department of Economic Opportunity as follows:
   53         (a) The Department of Children and Families shall receive
   54  95 percent of such amount to provide operating funds and other
   55  support to the designated lead agency in each continuum of care
   56  for the benefit of the designated catchment area as described in
   57  s. 420.624.
   58         (b) The Department of Economic Opportunity shall receive 5
   59  percent of such amount to provide training and technical
   60  assistance to lead agencies receiving operating funds and other
   61  support under paragraph (a) in accordance with s. 420.606(3).
   62  Training and technical assistance funded by this distribution
   63  shall be provided by a nonprofit entity that meets the
   64  requirements of s. 420.531.
   65         Section 8. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   66  420.9075, Florida Statutes, is amended, paragraph (f) is added
   67  to subsection (3), subsection (5) of that section is amended,
   68  and paragraph (i) is added to subsection (10) of that section,
   69  to read:
   70         420.9075 Local housing assistance plans; partnerships.—
   71         (2)(a) Each county and each eligible municipality
   72  participating in the State Housing Initiatives Partnership
   73  Program shall encourage the involvement of appropriate public
   74  sector and private sector entities as partners in order to
   75  combine resources to reduce housing costs for the targeted
   76  population. This partnership process should involve:
   77         1. Lending institutions.
   78         2. Housing builders and developers.
   79         3. Nonprofit and other community-based housing and service
   80  organizations.
   81         4. Providers of professional services relating to
   82  affordable housing.
   83         5. Advocates for low-income persons, including, but not
   84  limited to, homeless people, the elderly, and migrant
   85  farmworkers.
   86         6. Real estate professionals.
   87         7. Other persons or entities who can assist in providing
   88  housing or related support services.
   89         8. Lead agencies of local homeless assistance continuums of
   90  care.
   91         (3)
   92         (f) Each county and each eligible municipality is
   93  encouraged to develop a strategy within its local housing
   94  assistance plan which provides program funds for reducing
   95  homelessness.
   96         (5) The following criteria apply to awards made to eligible
   97  sponsors or eligible persons for the purpose of providing
   98  eligible housing:
   99         (a) At least 65 percent of the funds made available in each
  100  county and eligible municipality from the local housing
  101  distribution must be reserved for home ownership for eligible
  102  persons.
  103         (b) Up to 25 percent of the funds made available in each
  104  county and eligible municipality from the local housing
  105  distribution may be reserved for rental housing for eligible
  106  persons or for the purposes enumerated in s. 420.9072(8).
  107         (c)(b) At least 75 percent of the funds made available in
  108  each county and eligible municipality from the local housing
  109  distribution must be reserved for construction, rehabilitation,
  110  or emergency repair of affordable, eligible housing.
  111         (d)(c) Not more than 20 percent of the funds made available
  112  in each county and eligible municipality from the local housing
  113  distribution may be used for manufactured housing.
  114         (e)(d) The sales price or value of new or existing eligible
  115  housing may not exceed 90 percent of the average area purchase
  116  price in the statistical area in which the eligible housing is
  117  located. Such average area purchase price may be that calculated
  118  for any 12-month period beginning not earlier than the fourth
  119  calendar year prior to the year in which the award occurs or as
  120  otherwise established by the United States Department of the
  121  Treasury.
  122         (f)(e)1. All units constructed, rehabilitated, or otherwise
  123  assisted with the funds provided from the local housing
  124  assistance trust fund must be occupied by very-low-income
  125  persons, low-income persons, and moderate-income persons except
  126  as otherwise provided in this section.
  127         2. At least 30 percent of the funds deposited into the
  128  local housing assistance trust fund must be reserved for awards
  129  to very-low-income persons or eligible sponsors who will serve
  130  very-low-income persons and at least an additional 30 percent of
  131  the funds deposited into the local housing assistance trust fund
  132  must be reserved for awards to low-income persons or eligible
  133  sponsors who will serve low-income persons. This subparagraph
  134  does not apply to a county or an eligible municipality that
  135  includes, or has included within the previous 5 years, an area
  136  of critical state concern designated or ratified by the
  137  Legislature for which the Legislature has declared its intent to
  138  provide affordable housing. The exemption created by this act
  139  expires on July 1, 2013, and shall apply retroactively.
  140         (g)(f) Loans shall be provided for periods not exceeding 30
  141  years, except for deferred payment loans or loans that extend
  142  beyond 30 years which continue to serve eligible persons.
  143         (h)(g) Loans or grants for eligible rental housing
  144  constructed, rehabilitated, or otherwise assisted from the local
  145  housing assistance trust fund must be subject to recapture
  146  requirements as provided by the county or eligible municipality
  147  in its local housing assistance plan unless reserved for
  148  eligible persons for 15 years or the term of the assistance,
  149  whichever period is longer. Eligible sponsors that offer rental
  150  housing for sale before 15 years or that have remaining
  151  mortgages funded under this program must give a first right of
  152  refusal to eligible nonprofit organizations for purchase at the
  153  current market value for continued occupancy by eligible
  154  persons.
  155         (i)(h) Loans or grants for eligible owner-occupied housing
  156  constructed, rehabilitated, or otherwise assisted from proceeds
  157  provided from the local housing assistance trust fund shall be
  158  subject to recapture requirements as provided by the county or
  159  eligible municipality in its local housing assistance plan.
  160         (j)(i) The total amount of monthly mortgage payments or the
  161  amount of monthly rent charged by the eligible sponsor or her or
  162  his designee must be made affordable.
  163         (k)(j) The maximum sales price or value per unit and the
  164  maximum award per unit for eligible housing benefiting from
  165  awards made pursuant to this section must be established in the
  166  local housing assistance plan.
  167         (l)(k) The benefit of assistance provided through the State
  168  Housing Initiatives Partnership Program must accrue to eligible
  169  persons occupying eligible housing. This provision shall not be
  170  construed to prohibit use of the local housing distribution
  171  funds for a mixed income rental development.
  172         (m)(l) Funds from the local housing distribution not used
  173  to meet the criteria established in paragraph (a) or paragraph
  174  (c) (b) or not used for the administration of a local housing
  175  assistance plan must be used for housing production and finance
  176  activities, including, but not limited to, financing
  177  preconstruction activities or the purchase of existing units,
  178  providing rental housing, and providing home ownership training
  179  to prospective home buyers and owners of homes assisted through
  180  the local housing assistance plan.
  181         1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (c)
  182  (b), program income as defined in s. 420.9071(24) may also be
  183  used to fund activities described in this paragraph.
  184         2. When preconstruction due-diligence activities conducted
  185  as part of a preservation strategy show that preservation of the
  186  units is not feasible and will not result in the production of
  187  an eligible unit, such costs shall be deemed a program expense
  188  rather than an administrative expense if such program expenses
  189  do not exceed 3 percent of the annual local housing
  190  distribution.
  191         3. If both an award under the local housing assistance plan
  192  and federal low-income housing tax credits are used to assist a
  193  project and there is a conflict between the criteria prescribed
  194  in this subsection and the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal
  195  Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the county or eligible
  196  municipality may resolve the conflict by giving precedence to
  197  the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
  198  as amended, in lieu of following the criteria prescribed in this
  199  subsection with the exception of paragraphs (a) and (f) (e) of
  200  this subsection.