Florida Senate - 2015 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1500
Ì847062$Î847062
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/16/2015 .
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Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and
Economic Development (Clemens) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Between lines 90 and 91
4 insert:
5 Section 1. Section 420.57, Florida Statutes, is created to
6 read:
7 420.57 Affordable Housing; the Florida Keys.—
8 (1) The requirements herein provide incentives and
9 authorize a process for leveraging resources to provide
10 affordable rental and home ownership opportunities for essential
11 services personnel in the Florida Keys who are affected by the
12 area’s uniquely high housing costs.
13 (2) For purposes of this section, the term:
14 (a) “Essential services personnel” means persons in need of
15 affordable housing who are employed in occupations or
16 professions in which they are considered essential services
17 personnel, including, but not limited to, teachers and
18 educators, other school district, community college and
19 university employees, police and fire personnel, health care
20 personnel, skilled building trades personnel, and other public
21 or private job categories and who derive at least 70 percent of
22 their income from employment in the Florida Keys area of
23 critical state concern.
24 (b) “Innovative project” means those projects that
25 incorporate one or more of the following design features: green
26 building principles, alternative energy and water sources,
27 storm-resistant construction, or other elements that reduce the
28 long-term costs relating to maintenance, utilities, and
29 insurance. The term applies to new construction or
30 rehabilitation of an existing structure.
31 (c) “Project” means, for purposes of an application, the
32 construction or rehabilitation of workforce housing by a
33 qualified developer which includes a single site or scattered
34 sites within the Florida Keys area of critical state concern. A
35 scattered site is a project developed on noncontiguous parcels
36 or parcels divided by a street or easement in which the
37 qualified developer has a leasehold interest or demonstrates
38 ownership or control of all of the parcels. The sites could be
39 located in different parts of the county, regardless of the
40 number of building permits required.
41 (d) “Public-private partnership” means a partnership that
42 includes substantial involvement of at least one county, one
43 municipality, or one public sector entity, such as a school
44 district or other unit of local government, in which a project
45 is to be located, and at least one private sector for-profit or
46 not-for-profit business or charitable organization, including a
47 joint venture or other business entity.
48 (e) “Qualified developer” means a private person or entity
49 that undertakes a development activity and demonstrates it has
50 adequate financial resources to provide the necessary guarantees
51 for the underwriting of the project for which it makes
52 application. The term does not include a governmental agency
53 that undertakes a development project.
54 (f) “Workforce housing” means multifamily or single-family
55 rental housing affordable to natural persons or families whose
56 total annual household income for rental units does not exceed
57 120 percent of the annual area median income (AMI) for Monroe
58 County, as determined by the United States Department of Housing
59 and Urban Development (HUD), and for home ownership, 160 percent
60 of the annual AMI for Monroe County as determined by HUD.
61 (3) The Florida Housing Finance Corporation, hereinafter
62 referred to as the “corporation,” may provide loans to a
63 qualified developer for construction or rehabilitation of
64 workforce housing in the Florida Keys area of critical state
65 concern. Any eligible project shall qualify for a low-interest
66 loan of up to 50 percent of the total project cost, including
67 land, based on a minimum loan amount of $1 million. This funding
68 is intended to be used with other public and private sector
69 resources.
70 (4) The corporation shall establish a loan application
71 process by rule which includes selection criteria, an expedited
72 application review process, and a funding process, and shall
73 select the credit underwriter for each project.
74 (a) The selection criteria and application review process
75 must include a procedure for curing errors in the loan
76 applications which do not make a substantial change to the
77 proposed project.
78 (b) The staff of the corporation shall make recommendations
79 concerning program participation and funding to the
80 corporation’s board of directors and may accept any application
81 that meets all threshold requirements. Applications shall be
82 limited to one submission per project.
83 (c) The corporation board of directors shall approve or
84 reject loan applications, determine the tentative loan amount
85 available to each applicant, and rank all approved applications.
86 (d) The corporation board of directors shall decide which
87 approved applicants will become program participants and
88 determine the maximum loan amount for each project. Awards may
89 be made to one or more applicants. The board of directors
90 annually shall fund at least one eligible project, consistent
91 with this program’s goals.
92 (e) Requests for proposals or applications shall be made by
93 the corporation no less than annually and shall begin as soon as
94 possible after the beginning of the new fiscal year. Applicants
95 shall be given no more than a 2-month response time. The
96 corporation shall conclude its evaluation and award or approve
97 an application no later than 9 months after the start of the
98 state’s fiscal year. Notwithstanding this paragraph, the
99 corporation may expedite the time frames associated with a
100 review process, provided the expedited review allows for
101 responses to requests for proposal, sufficient project
102 evaluation, and award of a project.
103 (5) Priority consideration for funding will be provided for
104 projects that:
105 (a) Set aside the highest percent of units for workforce
106 housing.
107 (b) Require the least amount of program funding compared to
108 the overall housing cost of the project.
109 (c) Are consistent with the workforce housing objectives
110 and strategies set forth in the local comprehensive plan or land
111 development regulations.
112 (d) Are innovative projects.
113 (6) The processing of approvals of development orders or
114 development permits, as defined in s. 163.3164, for workforce
115 housing projects under this program shall be expedited.
116 (7) The corporation shall award loans with interest rates
117 set at 1 to 3 percent, which shall be made forgivable when long
118 term affordability is provided and guaranteed and when at least
119 80 percent of the units are set aside for workforce housing for
120 essential services personnel. Projects shall be deed restricted
121 for 99 years to remain compliant with the definition of
122 affordable housing in the Monroe County, Florida Land
123 Development Code, section 101-1.
124 (8) All eligible applications must demonstrate the
125 following:
126 (a) For workforce housing units offered for sale to
127 essential services personnel, the sale or resale will be limited
128 for a detached unit, townhouse, or condominium unit to not more
129 than 3.75 times the AMI for studio or one bedroom units; not
130 more than 4.25 times AMI for two bedroom units; and not more
131 than 4.75 times AMI for three or more bedroom units, and require
132 that all eligible purchasers occupy the homes as their primary
133 residence. Such residences may not be used for tourist housing
134 or vacation rentals.
135 (b) For rental units of workforce housing serving essential
136 services personnel, the monthly rent will be limited to not more
137 than 30 percent of the amount that represents 120 percent of the
138 monthly AMI for Monroe County. Such residences may not be used
139 for tourist housing or vacation rentals.
140 (c) The applicant is a public-private partnership as
141 established in an contract, partnership agreement, memorandum of
142 understanding, or other written instrument signed by all the
143 project partners.
144 (d) Any combination of grants, donations of land, or
145 contributions from the public-private partnership or other
146 sources must total at least 10 percent of the project
147 development cost. Such grants, donations of land, or
148 contributions must be evidenced by a letter of commitment,
149 agreement, contract, deed, memorandum of understanding, or other
150 written instrument at the time of application.
151 (e) The applicant must have title to or site control of the
152 land and evidence of required infrastructure.
153 (f) The applicant must have adequate financial resources to
154 provide the necessary guarantees for the underwriting of a
155 project.
156 (9) Eligible projects that may be otherwise subject to a
157 local rate of growth ordinance are exempt from such ordinances.
158 Eligible projects may also include manufactured housing
159 constructed after June 1994 and installed in accordance with
160 mobile home installation standards of the Department of Highway
161 Safety and Motor Vehicles.
162 (10) The corporation may adopt only those rules as
163 necessary to implement this section and ensure proper
164 administration of the program, consistent with the requirements
165 of s. 120.536(1) and s. 120.54. The corporation may use a
166 maximum of 2 percent of the annual program appropriation for
167 administration and compliance monitoring.
168
169 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
170 And the title is amended as follows:
171 Delete line 2
172 and insert:
173 An act relating to housing assistance; creating s.
174 420.57, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
175 terms; authorizing the Florida Housing Finance
176 Corporation to provide loans to a qualified developer
177 for construction or rehabilitation of workforce
178 housing in the Florida Keys area of critical state
179 concern, subject to certain requirements; requiring
180 the corporation to establish a loan application
181 process by rule; requiring the corporation to select
182 the credit underwriter for each project; specifying
183 criteria for projects that will be provided priority
184 consideration for funding; requiring that the
185 processing of approvals of development orders or
186 development permits for workforce housing projects be
187 expedited; requiring the corporation to award loans
188 with interest rates set at a specified range;
189 requiring projects to be deed restricted for a
190 specified period of time; specifying requirements for
191 eligible applications; exempting eligible projects
192 from local rate of growth ordinances; authorizing
193 eligible projects to include manufactured housing
194 subject to certain requirements; authorizing the
195 corporation to adopt rules subject to certain
196 requirements and restrictions; authorizing the
197 corporation to use a certain percent of the annual
198 program appropriation for administration and
199 compliance monitoring; amending