Adjust Requirements Statewide Affordable Housing Fund

     Current law requires a local government or a tribal government (government) desiring to receive funding from the statewide affordable housing fund to have filed with the division of housing of the department of local affairs (division) a commitment specifying how, within a 3-year cycle, affordable housing units within the local or tribal government's territorial boundaries will be increased by 3% each year over the baseline number of affordable housing units (baseline number). The baseline number resets every 3 years for the next cycle. To be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund, a local or tribal government is required to file a commitment with the division and achieve the 3% increase over the baseline number each year during the 3-year cycle.

     The bill changes the requirements for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, and each 3-year cycle thereafter, so that a local government desiring to receive funding from the statewide affordable housing fund is no longer required to increase affordable housing units by 3% above the baseline each year, but is instead required to meet the target increase number of affordable housing units (target increase number). The target increase number equals the average annual number of permits for new housing units or functional equivalents of permits for new housing units that have been issued over the past 3 years within the jurisdiction of the local government, multiplied by the number of years of the upcoming 3-year cycle to which the local government is committing, multiplied by:

• 0.10 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is significantly lower than the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division;
• 0.15 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is close to the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division; or
• 0.20 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is significantly higher than the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division.

     The bill permits a local government that desires to be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund but is unable to achieve the 3% annual increase in affordable housing units for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2024 to file a good faith effort waiver with the division. The division may, in its discretion, grant a good faith effort waiver to a local government that filed for a waiver on or after June 15, 2026 but before November 1, 2026 and complied with other requirements of the bill.

     The bill permits a government that desires to be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund but is unable to meet the target increase number in affordable housing units for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027 to file an adjustment waiver with the division. The division may, in its discretion, grant an adjustment waiver to a government that filed for a waiver and complied with other requirements of the bill.

     For the purposes of determining whether a local government has achieved the target increase number for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, and for each 3-year cycle thereafter, an affordable housing unit that satisfies the following criteria counts for one affordable housing unit plus the following corresponding additional unit amount:

• A unit that is developed on land donated by the local government or tribal government qualifies for an additional 0.10 of a unit;
• An affordable housing unit that is developed with money provided by multiple local governments qualifies for an additional one-tenth of a unit for each local government that provided money;
• A unit that is developed to be sold for-sale housing and that meets certain affordability requirements qualifies for an additional 0.20 of a unit; and
• A unit that is restricted to be rented or sold to a household with an annual income of at or below 30% 40% of the area median income, including a supportive housing unit, qualifies for an additional 0.20 of a unit.

     If affordable housing is developed and qualifies for a property tax exemption, thereby reducing property tax revenue to the county in which the affordable housing is located, and the county did not provide any money to develop the affordable housing, the division may, in its discretion, allow each such affordable housing unit to count as up to 1.15 affordable housing units for the county at the time of vertical construction. If a county's property tax revenue will be reduced due to the development of affordable housing, the county shall submit, at the time of the project underwriting for the affordable housing, documentation to the division of anticipated reduced property tax revenue.

      Beginning in 2027, to be eligible for direct funding, or for affordable housing projects within a tribal government's territorial boundaries to be eligible for funding, tribal governments are required to implement a system to expedite the development approval process for affordable housing projects and required to submit evidence of such satisfaction to the division.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)


(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)