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County Administrator's Report 13. 7.
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| BCC Regular Meeting |
Discussion |
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| RECOMMENDATION: |
Recommendation Concerning Local Government Area of Opportunity for RFA 2018-110 Housing Credit Financing for Affordable Housing Developments Located in Medium Counties - Tonya Gant, Neighborhood & Human Services Director
That the Board approve or deny the following action concerning Local Government Area of Opportunity for RFA 2018-110 Housing Credit Financing for Affordable Housing Developments Located in Medium Counties:
A. Set-aside minimum funding as required by RFA 2018-110 to support one Application; and
B. Provide for a homeless or special needs unit set-aside in the Application for households at or below 30% area median income; and
C. Authorize Staff to update the Application process accordingly for the 2018 Housing Tax Credit (HTC) cycle.
[Funding: Fund 120, SHIP and/or Fund 124, Affordable Housing] |
| BACKGROUND: |
In May 2017, the Board authorized an application process for developers seeking a minimum local government contribution in order to apply for housing tax credits through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) competitive tax credits cycle. For this fiscal year, FHFC is NOT requiring developers to secure a local government contribution as a mandatory component of the application for the 9% Housing Tax Credit applications under RFA 2018-110 Housing Credit Financing for Affordable Housing Developments Located in Medium Counties.
FHFC released the draft request for applications (RFA) on August 21 for RFA 2018-110. FHFC has set several special funding goals for this RFA, which would give developments a priority for funding if they meet one of the goals. The goals are one development sponsored by a not for profit, one assisted living facility development, two family developments that qualify in a geographic area of opportunity or a small area difficult to develop areas, and two developments that receive funding from a local government area of opportunity. This last category, the local government area of opportunity will require a local government to select only ONE development for funding and commit to providing the following funding based on construction type:
| Building Type |
Minimum Funding Amount
for RFA 2018-110 |
| Garden-Wood (New Construction) |
$354,000 |
| Garden-Concrete (New Construction) |
$425,625 |
| Mid-Rise-Wood (New Construction) |
$425,625 |
| Mid-Rise-Concrete (New Construction) |
$469,313 |
| Hi-Rise (New Construction) |
$560,250 |
| Garden (Rehabilitation) |
$297,563 |
| Non-Garden (Rehabilitation) |
$419,250 |
Local match funding to support tax credit applications has typically come from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program. Due to funding cuts from the State, the 2019 SHIP budget has a maximum of $130,000 available to support rental projects. SHIP rules set by the state mandate that 65% of SHIP funds be used for homeownership, which limits the amount of funds that may be used for rental projects to 25% (10% of funds are reserved for program administration). The total 2019 SHIP allocation is $521,800. Additional funding would have to come from the Affordable Housing fund or from future SHIP allocations.
If the Board wants to commit to providing funding, staff recommends supporting a special needs or homeless unit setaside requirement as a component of receving the funding, with a minimum of two-five units. For the homeless setaside, the developer would need to commit to working with Opening Doors Northwest Florida to receive referrals for homeless households at or below 30% of area median income (AMI). For the special needs set aside, the developer would need to commit to providing units specifically for households at or below 30% AMI that meet the definition of special needs as outlined in Section 420.0004(13), F.S., which is a household receiving benefits from Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, or Veteran's Disability; a domestic violence survivor; a young adult formerly in foster care; or a household with a disabling condition requiring independent living services. The SHIP program requires at least 20% of funds to be utilized for special needs households and 30% of funds must be used for very low income households (at or below 50% area median income).
RFA 2018-110 was issued by FHFC on September 6 and is due to the State on October 23. If the Board wants to pursue this special funding, applications would need to be due to staff by October 1 in order to allow time for staff to review and put together a recommendation for the October 18 Board agenda. This provides limited time for the developer to be able to hold community meetings and be scheduled for a pre-application development review as required by the process approved by the Board last year. Full information on RFA 2018-110 can be found online here. |
| BUDGETARY IMPACT: |
| If the Board wants to fund a development in a local government area of opportunity, partial funding is available from 2019 SHIP. Additional funds would have to be designated from the Affordable Housing Fund and from future SHIP allocation years. |
| LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS/SIGN-OFF: |
| Not applicable to this recommendation. |
| PERSONNEL: |
| Not applicable to this recommendation. |
| POLICY/REQUIREMENT FOR BOARD ACTION: |
| Funding for this special funding goal set by FHFC and the application process for a local government area of opportunity must be approved by the Board. |
| IMPLEMENTATION/COORDINATION: |
| If approved by the Board, the Neighborhood Enterprise Division will implement the application process as needed with the support of other County staff to review applications. |
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