Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2109 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R10940 JG-D
2	2	By: Dutton H.B. No. 2109
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the evaluation of applications for certain financial
8	8	assistance administered by the Texas Department of Housing and
9	9	Community Affairs.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 2306.1114(a), Government Code, is
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) Not later than the 14th day after the date an
14	14	application or a proposed application for housing funds described
15	15	by Section 2306.111 has been filed, the department shall provide
16	16	written notice of the filing of the application or proposed
17	17	application to the following persons:
18	18	(1) the United States representative who represents
19	19	the community containing the development described in the
20	20	application;
21	21	(2) members of the legislature who represent the
22	22	community containing the development described in the application;
23	23	(3) the presiding officer of the governing body of the
24	24	political subdivision containing the development described in the
25	25	application;
26	26	(4) any member of the governing body of a political
27	27	subdivision who represents the area containing the development
28	28	described in the application;
29	29	(5) the superintendent and the presiding officer of
30	30	the board of trustees of the school district containing the
31	31	development described in the application; and
32	32	(6) any neighborhood organization that is
33	33	[organizations] on record with the state or county in which the
34	34	development described in the application is to be located and that
35	35	has [whose] boundaries containing [contain] the proposed
36	36	development site or has a boundary located not more than 10 miles
37	37	from the proposed site.
38	38	SECTION 2. Section 2306.6704(b-1), Government Code, is
39	39	amended to read as follows:
40	40	(b-1) The preapplication process must require the applicant
41	41	to provide the department with evidence that the applicant has
42	42	notified the following entities with respect to the filing of the
43	43	application:
44	44	(1) any neighborhood organization that is
45	45	[organizations] on record with the state or county in which the
46	46	development is to be located and that has [whose] boundaries
47	47	containing [contain] the proposed development site or has a
48	48	boundary located not more than 10 miles from the proposed site;
49	49	(2) the superintendent and the presiding officer of
50	50	the board of trustees of the school district containing the
51	51	development;
52	52	(3) the presiding officer of the governing body of any
53	53	municipality containing the development and all elected members of
54	54	that body;
55	55	(4) the presiding officer of the governing body of the
56	56	county containing the development and all elected members of that
57	57	body; and
58	58	(5) the state senator and state representative of the
59	59	district containing the development.
60	60	SECTION 3. Section 2306.6705, Government Code, is amended
61	61	to read as follows:
62	62	Sec. 2306.6705. GENERAL APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. An
63	63	application must contain at a minimum the following written,
64	64	detailed information in a form prescribed by the board:
65	65	(1) a description of:
66	66	(A) the financing plan for the development,
67	67	including any nontraditional financing arrangements;
68	68	(B) the use of funds with respect to the
69	69	development;
70	70	(C) the funding sources for the development,
71	71	including:
72	72	(i) construction, permanent, and bridge
73	73	loans; and
74	74	(ii) rents, operating subsidies, and
75	75	replacement reserves; and
76	76	(D) the commitment status of the funding sources
77	77	for the development;
78	78	(2) if syndication costs are included in the eligible
79	79	basis, a justification of the syndication costs for each cost
80	80	category by an attorney or accountant specializing in tax matters;
81	81	(3) from a syndicator or a financial consultant of the
82	82	applicant, an estimate of the amount of equity dollars expected to
83	83	be raised for the development in conjunction with the amount of
84	84	housing tax credits requested for allocation to the applicant,
85	85	including:
86	86	(A) pay-in schedules; and
87	87	(B) syndicator consulting fees and other
88	88	syndication costs;
89	89	(4) if rental assistance, an operating subsidy, or an
90	90	annuity is proposed for the development, any related contract or
91	91	other agreement securing those funds and an identification of:
92	92	(A) the source and annual amount of the funds;
93	93	(B) the number of units receiving the funds; and
94	94	(C) the term and expiration date of the contract
95	95	or other agreement;
96	96	(5) if the development is located within the
97	97	boundaries of a political subdivision with a zoning ordinance,
98	98	evidence in the form of a letter from the chief executive officer of
99	99	the political subdivision or from another local official with
100	100	jurisdiction over zoning matters that states that:
101	101	(A) the development is permitted under the
102	102	provisions of the ordinance that apply to the location of the
103	103	development; or
104	104	(B) the applicant is in the process of seeking
105	105	the appropriate zoning and has signed and provided to the political
106	106	subdivision a release agreeing to hold the political subdivision
107	107	and all other parties harmless in the event that the appropriate
108	108	zoning is denied;
109	109	(6) if an occupied development is proposed for
110	110	rehabilitation:
111	111	(A) an explanation of the process used to notify
112	112	and consult with the tenants in preparing the application;
113	113	(B) a relocation plan outlining:
114	114	(i) relocation requirements; and
115	115	(ii) a budget with an identified funding
116	116	source; and
117	117	(C) if applicable, evidence that the relocation
118	118	plan has been submitted to the appropriate local agency;
119	119	(7) a certification of the applicant's compliance with
120	120	appropriate state and federal laws, as required by other state law
121	121	or by the board;
122	122	(8) any other information required by the board in the
123	123	qualified allocation plan; and
124	124	(9) evidence that the applicant has notified the
125	125	following entities with respect to the filing of the application:
126	126	(A) any neighborhood organization that is
127	127	[organizations] on record with the state or county in which the
128	128	development is to be located and that has [whose] boundaries
129	129	containing [contain] the proposed development site or has a
130	130	boundary located not more than 10 miles from the proposed site;
131	131	(B) the superintendent and the presiding officer
132	132	of the board of trustees of the school district containing the
133	133	development;
134	134	(C) the presiding officer of the governing body
135	135	of any municipality containing the development and all elected
136	136	members of that body;
137	137	(D) the presiding officer of the governing body
138	138	of the county containing the development and all elected members of
139	139	that body; and
140	140	(E) the state senator and state representative of
141	141	the district containing the development.
142	142	SECTION 4. Section 2306.6710(b), Government Code, is
143	143	amended to read as follows:
144	144	(b) If an application satisfies the threshold criteria, the
145	145	department shall score and rank the application using a point
146	146	system that:
147	147	(1) prioritizes in descending order criteria
148	148	regarding:
149	149	(A) financial feasibility of the development
150	150	based on the supporting financial data required in the application
151	151	that will include a project underwriting pro forma from the
152	152	permanent or construction lender;
153	153	(B) quantifiable community participation with
154	154	respect to the development, evaluated on the basis of a resolution
155	155	concerning the development that is voted on and adopted by the
156	156	following, as applicable:
157	157	(i) the governing body of a municipality in
158	158	which the proposed development site is to be located;
159	159	(ii) subject to Subparagraph (iii), the
160	160	commissioners court of a county in which the proposed development
161	161	site is to be located, if the proposed site is to be located in an
162	162	area of a county that is not part of a municipality; or
163	163	(iii) the commissioners court of a county
164	164	in which the proposed development site is to be located and the
165	165	governing body of the applicable municipality, if the proposed site
166	166	is to be located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a
167	167	municipality;
168	168	(C) the income levels of tenants of the
169	169	development;
170	170	(D) the size and quality of the units;
171	171	(E) the rent levels of the units;
172	172	(F) the cost of the development by square foot;
173	173	(G) the services to be provided to tenants of the
174	174	development;
175	175	(H) whether, at the time the complete application
176	176	is submitted or at any time within the two-year period preceding the
177	177	date of submission, the proposed development site is located in an
178	178	area declared to be a disaster under Section 418.014;
179	179	(I) quantifiable community participation with
180	180	respect to the development, evaluated on the basis of written
181	181	statements from any neighborhood organization that is
182	182	[organizations] on record with the state or county in which the
183	183	development is to be located and that has [whose] boundaries
184	184	containing [contain] the proposed development site or has a
185	185	boundary located not more than 10 miles from the proposed site; and
186	186	(J) the level of community support for the
187	187	application, evaluated on the basis of a written statement from the
188	188	state representative who represents the district containing the
189	189	proposed development site;
190	190	(2) uses criteria imposing penalties on applicants or
191	191	affiliates who have requested extensions of department deadlines
192	192	relating to developments supported by housing tax credit
193	193	allocations made in the application round preceding the current
194	194	round or a developer or principal of the applicant that has been
195	195	removed by the lender, equity provider, or limited partners for its
196	196	failure to perform its obligations under the loan documents or
197	197	limited partnership agreement; and
198	198	(3) encourages applicants to provide free notary
199	199	public service to the residents of the developments for which the
200	200	allocation of housing tax credits is requested.
201	201	SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only
202	202	to an application for low income housing tax credits that is
203	203	submitted to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
204	204	during an application cycle that is based on the 2018 qualified
205	205	allocation plan or a subsequent plan adopted by the governing board
206	206	of the department under Section 2306.67022, Government Code. An
207	207	application that is submitted during an application cycle that is
208	208	based on an earlier qualified allocation plan is governed by the law
209	209	in effect on the date the application cycle began, and the former
210	210	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
211	211	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.