HB 879 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to Broward County; creating the 2
Broward County Affordable Housing Improvement Act; 3
providing definitions; authorizing the levy of a 4
discretionary surtax to establish and finance 5
affordable housing for certain persons; specifying the 6
cap for the rate of the surtax; specifying 7
requirements for reauthorizing the discretionary 8
surtax; specifying the documents and conditions under 9
which the surtax appli es; specifying the procedures a 10
county must use before levying the surtax; requiring 11
that surtax proceeds be deposited in the county's 12
affordable housing trust fund; specifying authorized 13
and prohibited uses of surtax proceeds; providing 14
exceptions; providing an exception to general law; 15
prohibiting the rehabilitation of housing owned by 16
certain governments without a specified vote; 17
requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 18
Government Accountability to review the discretionary 19
surtax program at a specified interval and provide 20
reports to the Governor and Legislature; providing an 21
effective date. 22
23
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Section 1. Short title.—This act may be cited as the 26
"Broward County Affordable Housing Improvement Act." 27
Section 2. Definitions.—For purposes of this act, the 28
term: 29
(1) "Adjusted for family size" means the adjustment of the 30
income eligibility level to a lower level for households having 31
fewer than four persons and a higher level for h ouseholds having 32
more than four persons as compared to the base income 33
eligibility determined as provided in subsections (10), (11), 34
and (12) which shall be based upon a formula established by the 35
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. 36
(2) "Affordable" means monthly rents or monthly mortgage 37
payments including taxes and insurance that do not exceed 30 38
percent of the income which represents the percentage of the 39
median annual gross income for the households indicated in 40
subsections (10), (11), and (12). 41
(3) "Affordable housing" means any real or personal 42
property located within Broward County that is constructed for 43
the primary purpose of providing decent, safe, and sanitary 44
residential units that are designed for home ownership or ren tal 45
for very low-income, low-income, and moderate -income persons and 46
families. 47
(4) "Affordable Housing Trust Fund" or "AHTF" means the 48
Broward County Affordable Housing Trust Fund approved by 49
majority vote of the Broward County electors voting in a 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
referendum held during the November 2018 general election and 51
codified in Section 11.09 of the Broward County Charter. 52
(5) "County" means Broward County. 53
(6) "County commission" means the Board of County 54
Commissioners of Broward County. 55
(7) "Homeownership assistance" means the assistance of 56
very low-income, low-income, and moderate -income families in 57
purchasing a home as their primary residence, including reducing 58
the cost of the home with below -market construction financing, 59
the amount of down payment and closing costs paid by the 60
borrower, or the mortgage payment to an affordable amount for 61
the purchaser or using any other financial assistance measure as 62
provided in s. 420.5088, Florida Statutes. 63
(8) "Housing" includes single -family, detached dwellings, 64
multi-family dwellings, and other residential dwellings. 65
(9) "Housing assistance voucher" means the document used 66
to access assistance paid by the county from the discretionary 67
surtax balance in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to a 68
prospective purchaser of a single-family residence, which must 69
be the purchaser's homestead. 70
(10) "Low-income family" means one or more natural persons 71
or a family with a total anticipated income for the household 72
that does not exceed 80 percent of the median annual income 73
adjusted for family size for households within the county. 74
However, with respect to rental units, the household's annual 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
income at the time of initial occupancy may not exceed 80 76
percent of the area's median income adjusted for family size. 77
While occupying the rental unit, the household's annual income 78
may increase to an amount not to exceed 140 percent of 80 79
percent of the area's median income adjusted for family size. 80
(11) "Moderate-income family" means one or more natural 81
persons or a family with a total anticipated income for the 82
household that does not exceed 140 percent of the median annual 83
income adjusted for family size for households within the 84
county. However, with respect to rental units, the household's 85
annual income at the time of initial o ccupancy may not exceed 40 86
percent of the area's median income adjusted for family size. 87
While occupying the rental unit, the household's annual income 88
may increase to an amount not to exceed 140 percent of 140 89
percent of the area's median income adjusted for family size. 90
(12) "Very low-income family" means one or more natural 91
persons or a family with a total anticipated income for the 92
household that does not exceed 50 percent of the median annual 93
income adjusted for family size for households within the 94
county. However, with respect to rental units, the household's 95
annual income at the time of initial occupancy may not exceed 50 96
percent of the area's median income adjusted for family size. 97
While occupying the rental unit, the household's annual income 98
may increase to an amount not to exceed 140 percent of 50 99
percent of the area's median income adjusted for family size. 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Section 3. Affordable housing discretionary surtax on 101
documents; adoption; application of revenue. — 102
(1) The county may levy a discreti onary surtax on 103
documents for the purpose of establishing and financing 104
affordable housing countywide. 105
(2) The rate of the surtax may not exceed the rate of 45 106
cents for each $100 or fractional part thereof of the 107
consideration therefor. The surtax shall apply only to those 108
documents taxable under s. 201.02, Florida Statutes, except a 109
surtax may not be levied on any document in which the interest 110
granted, assigned, transferred, or conveyed involves only a 111
single-family residence. A single -family residence may be a 112
condominium unit, a unit held through stock ownership or 113
membership representing a proprietary interest in a corporation 114
owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of 98 years, or 115
a detached dwelling. 116
(3) The county commission may initiall y levy the 117
discretionary surtax authorized in this section only upon a 118
super majority vote of its entire membership. This initial levy 119
of the surtax shall expire on January 1, 2031, unless the county 120
commission places a question to reauthorize the levy of the 121
surtax before the county's electors in a referendum to be held 122
at the general election of November 2030. If a majority of the 123
electors voting in the referendum reauthorize the surtax, the 124
county commission shall place a question to reauthorize the 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
surtax every 12 years following the approval of the prior 126
reauthorization. 127
(4) Subject to subsection (3), the county commission shall 128
enact an ordinance which establishes the policies and procedures 129
governing the levy of the surtax, use of surtax proceeds, 130
eligibility standards, and housing assistance voucher programs 131
available to very low -income, low-income and moderate-income 132
families residing within the county. The surtax ordinance must 133
be proposed at a regular meeting of the county commission at 134
least 2 weeks before the public hearing at which the ordinance 135
will be formally enacted. The ordinance is only effective if 136
approved by a super-majority vote of the total membership of the 137
county commission. The ordinance may not take effect until 90 138
days after formal enactment or such other date prescribed by the 139
county commission, whichever is later. 140
(5) The county shall deposit all proceeds from the 141
discretionary surtax in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and 142
shall create separate accounts within the Affordabl e Housing 143
Trust Fund to avoid commingling the proceeds generated from 144
implementation of this act and other revenues deposited by the 145
county for affordable housing. Investment earnings from the 146
proceeds deposited into AHTF pursuant to this act, if any, must 147
be retained and used for affordable housing. 148
(6)(a) The county shall use the proceeds solely to 149
increase and improve the supply of affordable housing to 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
eligible households including the acquisition of property and 151
property rights, costs of construction including costs 152
associated with planning, administration, design, building or 153
installation, and any other costs necessary to finance the 154
construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of housing for very 155
low-income, low-income and moderate-income families, to pay the 156
necessary costs of collection and enforcement of the surtax, the 157
reimbursement of the county for any costs advanced from other 158
funding sources, and to fund any local matching contributions 159
required pursuant to federal law. The county's expenditure of 160
surtax proceeds shall, to the extent practical, be consistent 161
with the affordable housing incentives strategies developed and 162
recommended to the county by the Broward County Affordable 163
Housing Advisory Committee pursuant to s. 420.9076, Florida 164
Statutes. 165
(b) At least 50 percent of the funds must be used to 166
provide housing assistance for the benefit of very low -income 167
and low-income families. The county shall by ordinance divide 168
the proceeds set-aside in this paragraph to assist the housing 169
needs of very low-income and low-income households. At least 10 170
percent of the surtax proceeds must be used to provide housing 171
assistance for income -eligible, qualified individuals with 172
disabilities. Authorized uses of the proceeds include: 173
1. Providing funds for fi rst and second mortgages. 174
2. Acquiring property to form housing cooperatives. 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
3. Acquiring land for a residential housing project, in 176
which at least 30 percent of the units are affordable to very 177
low-income, low-income, and moderate -income families, if the 178
land is owned by a local government or a special district that 179
enters into an agreement with the county to provide such 180
housing. The local government or special district may enter into 181
a ground lease with a person or entity for nominal or other 182
consideration for the construction of the residential housing 183
project on land acquired pursuant to this paragraph. 184
(c) No more than 50 percent of the revenues collected each 185
year under this section may be used to help finance new 186
construction. The proceeds of the surtax may not be used for 187
rent subsidies or grants. 188
(d) No more than 10 percent of surtax revenues collected 189
under this section by the Department of Revenue and remitted to 190
the county in any fiscal year may be used for reasonable 191
administrative costs, including reasonable consultant and legal 192
expenses related to the establishment and administration of 193
affordable housing programs, administration of the AHTF, and 194
reasonable expenses for administering the process of 195
calculating, collecting, and accounti ng for any deferred county 196
fees as authorized by county ordinance. 197
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Broward 198
County Code of Ordinances or federal or state law or regulations 199
to the contrary, surtax revenues deposited in the AHTF and used 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
to construct, acquire, rehabilitate, or subsidize affordable 201
housing, or assist other governmental agencies, private 202
organizations, or individuals in the construction, acquisition, 203
rehabilitation, reimbursement of county advanced funds, location 204
or subsidy of affordable housing shall, whenever feasible, be 205
disbursed in a manner to assure that the housing supply created 206
with AHTF revenues is accessible to a range of families whose 207
incomes do not exceed the United States Department of Housing 208
and Urban Development's published standards for moderate -income 209
households, adjusted for family size. 210
(7) Notwithstanding subsection (6), of the discretionary 211
surtax revenues collected by the Department of Revenue remaining 212
after any deduction for administrative costs as p rovided in 213
paragraph (6)(d), at least 35 percent shall be used to provide 214
homeownership assistance for very low -income, low-income, and 215
moderate-income families, and at least 35 percent shall be used 216
for construction, rehabilitation, and purchase of rental housing 217
units. The remaining amount may be allocated to provide for 218
homeownership assistance or rental housing units, at the 219
discretion of the county. 220
(8) Any funds allocated for homeownership assistance or 221
rental housing units that are not committed at the end of the 222
fiscal year shall be reallocated in subsequent years consistent 223
with this subsection, in that at least 35 percent shall be 224
reallocated to provide homeownership assistance for very low -225
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
income, low-income, and moderate -income families, and at least 226
35 percent shall be reallocated for construction, 227
rehabilitation, and purchase of rental housing units. The 228
remaining amount of uncommitted funds may be reallocated at the 229
discretion of the county within any of the categories 230
established in this sec tion. 231
(9) Rehabilitation of housing owned by a recipient 232
government may be authorized only after a determination approved 233
by a majority vote of the total membership of the county 234
commission that no other sources of funds are available. 235
Section 4. Program review and report. —By January 1, 2026, 236
and every 5 years thereafter, the Office of Program Policy 237
Analysis and Government Accountability shall review the 238
discretionary surtax program operated under this section and 239
shall provide a report to the Govern or, the President of the 240
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 241
Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 2022. 242