Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1792 Compare Versions

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1	1	85R6506 JAM-D
2	2	By: Swanson H.B. No. 1792
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the evaluation of an application for a low income
8	8	housing tax credit.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 2306.6705, Government Code, is amended
11	11	to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 2306.6705. GENERAL APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. (a) An
13	13	application must contain at a minimum the following written,
14	14	detailed information in a form prescribed by the board:
15	15	(1) a description of:
16	16	(A) the financing plan for the development,
17	17	including any nontraditional financing arrangements;
18	18	(B) the use of funds with respect to the
19	19	development;
20	20	(C) the funding sources for the development,
21	21	including:
22	22	(i) construction, permanent, and bridge
23	23	loans; and
24	24	(ii) rents, operating subsidies, and
25	25	replacement reserves; and
26	26	(D) the commitment status of the funding sources
27	27	for the development;
28	28	(2) if syndication costs are included in the eligible
29	29	basis, a justification of the syndication costs for each cost
30	30	category by an attorney or accountant specializing in tax matters;
31	31	(3) from a syndicator or a financial consultant of the
32	32	applicant, an estimate of the amount of equity dollars expected to
33	33	be raised for the development in conjunction with the amount of
34	34	housing tax credits requested for allocation to the applicant,
35	35	including:
36	36	(A) pay-in schedules; and
37	37	(B) syndicator consulting fees and other
38	38	syndication costs;
39	39	(4) if rental assistance, an operating subsidy, or an
40	40	annuity is proposed for the development, any related contract or
41	41	other agreement securing those funds and an identification of:
42	42	(A) the source and annual amount of the funds;
43	43	(B) the number of units receiving the funds; and
44	44	(C) the term and expiration date of the contract
45	45	or other agreement;
46	46	(5) if the development is located within the
47	47	boundaries of a political subdivision with a zoning ordinance,
48	48	evidence in the form of a letter from the chief executive officer of
49	49	the political subdivision or from another local official with
50	50	jurisdiction over zoning matters that states that:
51	51	(A) the development is permitted under the
52	52	provisions of the ordinance that apply to the location of the
53	53	development; or
54	54	(B) the applicant is in the process of seeking
55	55	the appropriate zoning and has signed and provided to the political
56	56	subdivision a release agreeing to hold the political subdivision
57	57	and all other parties harmless in the event that the appropriate
58	58	zoning is denied;
59	59	(6) if an occupied development is proposed for
60	60	rehabilitation:
61	61	(A) an explanation of the process used to notify
62	62	and consult with the tenants in preparing the application;
63	63	(B) a relocation plan outlining:
64	64	(i) relocation requirements; and
65	65	(ii) a budget with an identified funding
66	66	source; and
67	67	(C) if applicable, evidence that the relocation
68	68	plan has been submitted to the appropriate local agency;
69	69	(7) a certification of the applicant's compliance with
70	70	appropriate state and federal laws, as required by other state law
71	71	or by the board;
72	72	(8) any other information required by the board in the
73	73	qualified allocation plan; and
74	74	(9) evidence that the applicant has notified the
75	75	following entities with respect to the filing of the application:
76	76	(A) any neighborhood organization that is
77	77	[organizations] on record with the state or county in which the
78	78	development is to be located and that has [whose] boundaries
79	79	containing [contain] the proposed development site or has a
80	80	boundary located not more than five miles from the proposed site;
81	81	(B) the superintendent and the presiding officer
82	82	of the board of trustees of the school district containing the
83	83	development;
84	84	(C) the presiding officer of the governing body
85	85	of any municipality containing the development and all elected
86	86	members of that body;
87	87	(D) the presiding officer of the governing body
88	88	of the county containing the development and all elected members of
89	89	that body; and
90	90	(E) the state senator and state representative of
91	91	the district containing the development.
92	92	(b) Notice provided under Subsection (a)(9) must:
93	93	(1) be given at least 90 days before the date the
94	94	application is submitted to the department;
95	95	(2) name the development and conspicuously identify
96	96	the development as "low-income government-subsidized housing"; and
97	97	(3) contain a description of the development and an
98	98	independent study of the development's anticipated effects on local
99	99	schools, area crime rates, infrastructure, governmental
100	100	expenditures, population density, area property values, and the
101	101	revenue of local, state, and federal governmental entities.
102	102	(c) In addition to the requirements under Subsection (a) and
103	103	other provisions of this subchapter, an application must be
104	104	accompanied by any written statements submitted to the developer
105	105	under Section 2306.6710(b)(1)(I), (J), or (K).
106	106	SECTION 2. Section 2306.6708, Government Code, is amended
107	107	by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
108	108	follows:
109	109	(a) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and
110	110	(c), an applicant may not change or supplement an application in any
111	111	manner after the filing deadline.
112	112	(c) Not later than June 15, an applicant may supplement an
113	113	application with a written statement provided under Section
114	114	2306.6710(b)(1)(J).
115	115	SECTION 3. Section 2306.6710, Government Code, is amended
116	116	by amending Subsections (b) and (f) and adding Subsections (g),
117	117	(h), and (i) to read as follows:
118	118	(b) If an application satisfies the threshold criteria, the
119	119	department shall score and rank the application using a point
120	120	system that:
121	121	(1) prioritizes in descending order criteria
122	122	regarding:
123	123	(A) financial feasibility of the development
124	124	based on the supporting financial data required in the application
125	125	that will include a project underwriting pro forma from the
126	126	permanent or construction lender;
127	127	(B) quantifiable community participation with
128	128	respect to the development, evaluated on the basis of a resolution
129	129	concerning the development that is voted on and adopted by the
130	130	following, as applicable:
131	131	(i) the governing body of a municipality in
132	132	which the proposed development site is to be located;
133	133	(ii) subject to Subparagraph (iii), the
134	134	commissioners court of a county in which the proposed development
135	135	site is to be located, if the proposed site is to be located in an
136	136	area of a county that is not part of a municipality; or
137	137	(iii) the commissioners court of a county
138	138	in which the proposed development site is to be located and the
139	139	governing body of the applicable municipality, if the proposed site
140	140	is to be located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a
141	141	municipality;
142	142	(C) the income levels of tenants of the
143	143	development;
144	144	(D) the size and quality of the units;
145	145	(E) the rent levels of the units;
146	146	(F) the cost of the development by square foot;
147	147	(G) the services to be provided to tenants of the
148	148	development;
149	149	(H) whether, at the time the complete application
150	150	is submitted or at any time within the two-year period preceding the
151	151	date of submission, the proposed development site is located in an
152	152	area declared to be a disaster under Section 418.014;
153	153	(I) quantifiable community participation with
154	154	respect to the development, evaluated on the basis of written
155	155	statements from any neighborhood organization that is
156	156	[organizations] on record with the state or county in which the
157	157	development is to be located and that has [whose] boundaries
158	158	containing [contain] the proposed development site; [and]
159	159	(J) the level of community support for the
160	160	application, evaluated on the basis of a written statement from the
161	161	state representative who represents the district containing the
162	162	proposed development site; and
163	163	(K) quantifiable community participation with
164	164	respect to the development, evaluated on the basis of written
165	165	statements from any neighborhood organization that is on record
166	166	with the state or county in which the development is to be located
167	167	and that has a boundary located not more than five miles from the
168	168	proposed site, other than an organization described by Paragraph
169	169	(I);
170	170	(2) uses criteria imposing penalties on applicants or
171	171	affiliates who have requested extensions of department deadlines
172	172	relating to developments supported by housing tax credit
173	173	allocations made in the application round preceding the current
174	174	round or a developer or principal of the applicant that has been
175	175	removed by the lender, equity provider, or limited partners for its
176	176	failure to perform its obligations under the loan documents or
177	177	limited partnership agreement; and
178	178	(3) encourages applicants to provide free notary
179	179	public service to the residents of the developments for which the
180	180	allocation of housing tax credits is requested.
181	181	(f) In evaluating quantifiable community participation or
182	182	the level of community support [for an application] under
183	183	Subsection (b)(1)(I) or (J) [(b)(1)(J)], as applicable, the
184	184	department shall award:
185	185	(1) positive points for positive written statements
186	186	received;
187	187	(2) negative points for negative written statements
188	188	received; and
189	189	(3) zero points for neutral written statements
190	190	received.
191	191	(g) In evaluating quantifiable community participation
192	192	under Subsection (b)(1)(K), the department shall award:
193	193	(1) zero points for positive or neutral written
194	194	statements received; and
195	195	(2) negative points for negative written statements
196	196	received.
197	197	(h) The maximum number of negative points that may be
198	198	awarded under Subsection (g) based on quantifiable community
199	199	participation described by Subsection (b)(1)(K) shall be
200	200	three-eighths of the maximum number of negative points that may be
201	201	awarded under Subsection (f) based on the level of community
202	202	support described by Subsection (b)(1)(J).
203	203	(i) The department shall notify a person or organization who
204	204	submits a written statement under Subsection (b)(1)(I), (J), or (K)
205	205	that the department has received the statement and shall provide a
206	206	copy of that statement to the applicant.
207	207	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
208	208	to an application for low income housing tax credits that is
209	209	submitted to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
210	210	during an application cycle that is based on the 2018 qualified
211	211	allocation plan or a subsequent plan adopted by the governing board
212	212	of the department under Section 2306.67022, Government Code. An
213	213	application that is submitted during an application cycle that is
214	214	based on an earlier qualified allocation plan is governed by the law
215	215	in effect on the date the application cycle began, and the former
216	216	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
217	217	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.