Florida Senate - 2016 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. PCS (310862) for SB 1534
Ì855434-Î855434
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
02/26/2016 .
.
.
.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Committee on Appropriations (Simmons) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with directory and title amendments)
2
3 Delete lines 193 - 755
4 and insert:
5 (50) To reserve a minimum of 5 percent of its annual
6 appropriation from the State Housing Trust Fund for housing
7 projects designed and constructed to serve persons who have a
8 disabling condition, as defined in s. 420.0004, with first
9 priority given to projects serving persons who have a
10 developmental disability, as defined in s. 393.063. Funding
11 shall be provided as forgivable loans through a competitive
12 solicitation. Private nonprofit organizations whose primary
13 mission includes serving persons with a disabling condition
14 shall be eligible for these funds. In evaluating proposals for
15 these funds, the corporation shall consider the extent to which
16 funds from local and other sources will be used by the applicant
17 to leverage the funds provided under this section; employment
18 opportunities and supports that will be available to residents
19 of the proposed housing; a plan for residents to effectively
20 access community-based services, resources, and amenities; and
21 partnerships with other supportive services agencies.
22 Section 3. Subsections (1) and (3), paragraphs (b), (f),
23 and (k) of subsection (6), and subsection (10) of section
24 420.5087, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
25 420.5087 State Apartment Incentive Loan Program.—There is
26 hereby created the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program for
27 the purpose of providing first, second, or other subordinated
28 mortgage loans or loan guarantees to sponsors, including for
29 profit, nonprofit, and public entities, to provide housing
30 affordable to very-low-income persons.
31 (1) Program funds shall be made available through a
32 competitive solicitation process distributed over successive 3
33 year periods in a manner that meets the need and demand for
34 very-low-income housing throughout the state. That need and
35 demand must be determined by using the most recent statewide
36 low-income rental housing market studies conducted every 3 years
37 available at the beginning of each 3-year period. However, at
38 least 10 percent of the program funds, as calculated on an
39 annual basis, distributed during a 3-year period must be made
40 available allocated to each of the following categories of
41 counties, as determined by using the population statistics
42 published in the most recent edition of the Florida Statistical
43 Abstract:
44 (a) Counties that have a population of 825,000 or more.
45 (b) Counties that have a population of more than 100,000
46 but less than 825,000.
47 (c) Counties that have a population of 100,000 or less.
48
49 Any increase in funding required to reach the 10-percent minimum
50 shall be taken from the county category that has the largest
51 portion of the funding allocation. The corporation shall adopt
52 rules that which establish an equitable process for distributing
53 any portion of the 10 percent of program funds made available
54 allocated to the county categories specified in this subsection
55 which remains unallocated at the end of a 3-year period.
56 Counties that have a population of 100,000 or less shall be
57 given preference under these rules.
58 (3) During the first 6 months of loan or loan guarantee
59 availability, program funds shall be made available reserved for
60 use by sponsors who provide the housing set-aside required in
61 subsection (2) for the tenant groups designated in this
62 subsection. The reservation of funds made available to each of
63 these groups shall be determined using the most recent statewide
64 very-low-income rental housing market study available at the
65 time of publication of each notice of fund availability required
66 by paragraph (6)(b). The reservation of funds made available
67 within each notice of fund availability to the tenant groups in
68 paragraphs (b)-(e) (a), (b), and (e) may not be less than 10
69 percent of the funds available at that time. Any increase in
70 funding required to reach the required 10-percent minimum must
71 be taken from the tenant group that would receive has the
72 largest percentage of available funds in accordance with the
73 study reservation. The reservation of funds made available
74 within each notice of fund availability to the tenant group in
75 paragraph (a) (c) may not be less than 5 percent of the funds
76 available at that time. The reservation of funds within each
77 notice of fund availability to the tenant group in paragraph (d)
78 may not be more than 10 percent of the funds available at that
79 time. The tenant groups are:
80 (a) Commercial fishing workers and farmworkers;
81 (b) Families;
82 (c) Persons who are homeless;
83 (d) Persons with special needs; and
84 (e) Elderly persons. Ten percent of the amount made
85 available reserved for the elderly shall be reserved to provide
86 loans to sponsors of housing for the elderly for the purpose of
87 making building preservation, health, or sanitation repairs or
88 improvements which are required by federal, state, or local
89 regulation or code, or lifesafety or security-related repairs or
90 improvements to such housing. Such a loan may not exceed
91 $750,000 per housing community for the elderly. In order to
92 receive the loan, the sponsor of the housing community must make
93 a commitment to match at least 5 percent of the loan amount to
94 pay the cost of such repair or improvement. The corporation
95 shall establish the rate of interest on the loan, which may not
96 exceed 3 percent, and the term of the loan, which may not exceed
97 15 years; however, if the lien of the corporation’s encumbrance
98 is subordinate to the lien of another mortgagee, then the term
99 may be made coterminous with the longest term of the superior
100 lien. The term of the loan shall be based on a credit analysis
101 of the applicant. The corporation may forgive indebtedness for a
102 share of the loan attributable to the units in a project
103 reserved for extremely-low-income elderly by nonprofit
104 organizations, as defined in s. 420.0004(5), where the project
105 has provided affordable housing to the elderly for 15 years or
106 more. The corporation shall establish, by rule, the procedure
107 and criteria for receiving, evaluating, and competitively
108 ranking all applications for loans under this paragraph. A loan
109 application must include evidence of the first mortgagee’s
110 having reviewed and approved the sponsor’s intent to apply for a
111 loan. A nonprofit organization or sponsor may not use the
112 proceeds of the loan to pay for administrative costs, routine
113 maintenance, or new construction.
114 (6) On all state apartment incentive loans, except loans
115 made to housing communities for the elderly to provide for
116 lifesafety, building preservation, health, sanitation, or
117 security-related repairs or improvements, the following
118 provisions shall apply:
119 (b) The corporation shall publish a notice of fund
120 availability in a publication of general circulation throughout
121 the state. Such notice shall be published at least 60 days prior
122 to the application deadline and shall provide notice of the
123 availability temporary reservations of funds established in
124 subsection (3).
125 (f) The review committee established by corporation rule
126 pursuant to this subsection shall make recommendations to the
127 board of directors of the corporation regarding program
128 participation under the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program.
129 The corporation board shall make the final decisions regarding
130 which applicants shall become program participants based on the
131 scores received in the competitive process, further review of
132 applications, and the recommendations of the review committee.
133 The corporation board shall approve or reject applications for
134 loans and shall determine the tentative loan amount available to
135 each applicant selected for participation in the program. The
136 actual loan amount shall be determined pursuant to rule adopted
137 pursuant to s. 420.507(22)(i) s. 420.507(22)(h).
138 (k) Rent controls shall not be allowed on any project
139 except as required in conjunction with the issuance of tax
140 exempt bonds or federal low-income housing tax credits and
141 except when the sponsor has committed to set aside units for
142 extremely-low-income persons, in which case rents shall be set
143 restricted at the income set-aside levels committed to by the
144 sponsor at the level applicable income limitations established
145 by the corporation for federal low-income tax credits.
146 (10)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (3), for the 2015-2016
147 fiscal year, the reservation of funds for the tenant groups
148 within each notice of fund availability shall be:
149 1. Not less than 10 percent of the funds available at that
150 time for the following tenant groups:
151 a. Families;
152 b. Persons who are homeless;
153 c. Persons with special needs; and
154 d. Elderly persons.
155 2. Not less than 5 percent of the funds available at that
156 time for the commercial fishing workers and farmworkers tenant
157 group.
158 (b) This subsection expires July 1, 2016.
159 Section 4. Subsection (5) of section 420.511, Florida
160 Statutes, is amended to read:
161 420.511 Strategic business plan; long-range program plan;
162 annual report; audited financial statements.—
163 (5) The Auditor General shall conduct an operational audit
164 of the accounts and records of the corporation and provide a
165 written report on the audit to the President of the Senate and
166 the Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 1, 2016.
167 Both the corporation’s business plan and annual report must
168 recognize the different fiscal periods under which the
169 corporation, the state, the Federal Government, and local
170 governments operate.
171 Section 5. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) and
172 subsections (4), (5), and (6) of section 420.622, Florida
173 Statutes, are amended to read:
174 420.622 State Office on Homelessness; Council on
175 Homelessness.—
176 (3) The State Office on Homelessness, pursuant to the
177 policies set by the council and subject to the availability of
178 funding, shall:
179 (a) Coordinate among state, local, and private agencies and
180 providers to produce a statewide consolidated inventory program
181 and financial plan for the state’s entire system of homeless
182 programs which incorporates regionally developed plans. Such
183 programs include, but are not limited to:
184 1. Programs authorized under the Stewart B. McKinney
185 Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, 42 U.S.C. ss. 11371 et seq.,
186 and carried out under funds awarded to this state; and
187 2. Programs, components thereof, or activities that assist
188 persons who are homeless or at risk for homelessness.
189 (b) Collect, maintain, and make available information
190 concerning persons who are homeless or at risk for homelessness,
191 including demographics information, current services and
192 resources available, the cost and availability of services and
193 programs, and the met and unmet needs of this population. All
194 entities that receive state funding must provide access to all
195 data they maintain in summary form, with no individual
196 identifying information, to assist the council in providing this
197 information. The State Office on Homelessness, in consultation
198 with the designated lead agencies for a local homeless continuum
199 of care and with the Council on Homelessness, shall develop the
200 system and process of data collection from all lead agencies for
201 the purpose of analyzing trends and assessing impacts in the
202 statewide homeless delivery system. Any statewide homelessness
203 survey and database system must comply with all state and
204 federal statutory and regulatory confidentiality requirements
205 The council shall explore the potential of creating a statewide
206 Management Information System (MIS), encouraging the future
207 participation of any bodies that are receiving awards or grants
208 from the state, if such a system were adopted, enacted, and
209 accepted by the state.
210 (4) The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence
211 of the Council on Homelessness, shall may accept and administer
212 moneys appropriated to it to provide annual “Challenge Grants”
213 to lead agencies of homeless assistance continuums of care
214 designated by the State Office on Homelessness pursuant to s.
215 420.624. The department shall establish varying levels of grant
216 awards up to $500,000 per lead agency. Award levels shall be
217 based upon the total population within the continuum of care
218 catchment area and reflect the differing degrees of homelessness
219 in the catchment planning areas. The department, in consultation
220 with the Council on Homelessness, shall specify a grant award
221 level in the notice of the solicitation of grant applications.
222 (a) To qualify for the grant, a lead agency must develop
223 and implement a local homeless assistance continuum of care plan
224 for its designated catchment area. The continuum of care plan
225 must implement a coordinated assessment or central intake system
226 to screen, assess, and refer persons seeking assistance to the
227 appropriate service provider. The lead agency shall also
228 document the commitment of local government or and private
229 organizations to provide matching funds or in-kind support in an
230 amount equal to the grant requested. Expenditures of leveraged
231 funds or resources, including third-party cash or in-kind
232 contributions, are authorized only for eligible activities
233 committed on one project which have not been used as leverage or
234 match for any other project or program and must be certified
235 through a written commitment.
236 (b) Preference must be given to those lead agencies that
237 have demonstrated the ability of their continuum of care to
238 provide quality services to homeless persons and the ability to
239 leverage federal homeless-assistance funding under the Stewart
240 B. McKinney Act with local government funding or and private
241 funding for the provision of services to homeless persons.
242 (c) Preference must be given to lead agencies in catchment
243 areas with the greatest need for the provision of housing and
244 services to the homeless, relative to the population of the
245 catchment area.
246 (d) The grant may be used to fund any of the housing,
247 program, or service needs included in the local homeless
248 assistance continuum of care plan. The lead agency may allocate
249 the grant to programs, services, or housing providers that
250 implement the local homeless assistance continuum care plan. The
251 lead agency may provide subgrants to a local agency to implement
252 programs or services or provide housing identified for funding
253 in the lead agency’s application to the department. A lead
254 agency may spend a maximum of 8 percent of its funding on
255 administrative costs.
256 (e) The lead agency shall submit a final report to the
257 department documenting the outcomes achieved by the grant in
258 enabling persons who are homeless to return to permanent housing
259 thereby ending such person’s episode of homelessness.
260 (5) The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence
261 of the Council on Homelessness, may administer moneys
262 appropriated to it to provide homeless housing assistance grants
263 annually to lead agencies for local homeless assistance
264 continuum of care, as recognized by the State Office on
265 Homelessness, to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate
266 transitional or permanent housing units for homeless persons.
267 These moneys shall consist of any sums that the state may
268 appropriate, as well as money received from donations, gifts,
269 bequests, or otherwise from any public or private source, which
270 are intended to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate transitional
271 or permanent housing units for homeless persons.
272 (a) Grant applicants shall be ranked competitively.
273 Preference must be given to applicants who leverage additional
274 private funds and public funds, particularly federal funds
275 designated for the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation
276 of transitional or permanent housing for homeless persons; who
277 acquire, build, or rehabilitate the greatest number of units; or
278 and who acquire, build, or rehabilitate in catchment areas
279 having the greatest need for housing for the homeless relative
280 to the population of the catchment area.
281 (b) Funding for any particular project may not exceed
282 $750,000.
283 (c) Projects must reserve, for a minimum of 10 years, the
284 number of units acquired, constructed, or rehabilitated through
285 homeless housing assistance grant funding to serve persons who
286 are homeless at the time they assume tenancy.
287 (d) No more than two grants may be awarded annually in any
288 given local homeless assistance continuum of care catchment
289 area.
290 (e) A project may not be funded which is not included in
291 the local homeless assistance continuum of care plan, as
292 recognized by the State Office on Homelessness, for the
293 catchment area in which the project is located.
294 (f) The maximum percentage of funds that the State Office
295 on Homelessness and each applicant may spend on administrative
296 costs is 5 percent.
297 (6) The State Office on Homelessness, in conjunction with
298 the Council on Homelessness, shall establish performance
299 measures and specific objectives by which it may to evaluate the
300 effective performance and outcomes of lead agencies that receive
301 grant funds. Any funding through the State Office on
302 Homelessness shall be distributed to lead agencies based on
303 their overall performance and their achievement of specified
304 objectives. Each lead agency for which grants are made under
305 this section shall provide the State Office on Homelessness a
306 thorough evaluation of the effectiveness of the program in
307 achieving its stated purpose. In evaluating the performance of
308 the lead agencies, the State Office on Homelessness shall base
309 its criteria upon the program objectives, goals, and priorities
310 that were set forth by the lead agencies in their proposals for
311 funding. Such criteria may include, but are not be limited to,
312 the number of persons or households that are no longer homeless,
313 the rate of recidivism to homelessness, and the number of
314 persons who obtain gainful employment homeless individuals
315 provided shelter, food, counseling, and job training.
316 Section 6. Subsections (3), (7), and (8) of section
317 420.624, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
318 420.624 Local homeless assistance continuum of care.—
319 (3) Communities or regions seeking to implement a local
320 homeless assistance continuum of care are encouraged to develop
321 and annually update a written plan that includes a vision for
322 the continuum of care, an assessment of the supply of and demand
323 for housing and services for the homeless population, and
324 specific strategies and processes for providing the components
325 of the continuum of care. The State Office on Homelessness, in
326 conjunction with the Council on Homelessness, shall include in
327 the plan a methodology for assessing performance and outcomes.
328 The State Office on Homelessness shall supply a standardized
329 format for written plans, including the reporting of data.
330 (7) The components of a continuum of care plan should
331 include:
332 (a) Outreach, intake, and assessment procedures in order to
333 identify the service and housing needs of an individual or
334 family and to link them with appropriate housing, services,
335 resources, and opportunities;
336 (b) Emergency shelter, in order to provide a safe, decent
337 alternative to living in the streets;
338 (c) Transitional housing;
339 (d) Supportive services, designed to assist with the
340 development of the skills necessary to secure and retain
341 permanent housing;
342 (e) Permanent supportive housing;
343 (f) Rapid ReHousing, as specified in s. 420.6265;
344 (g)(f) Permanent housing;
345 (h)(g) Linkages and referral mechanisms among all
346 components to facilitate the movement of individuals and
347 families toward permanent housing and self-sufficiency;
348 (i)(h) Services and resources to prevent housed persons
349 from becoming or returning to homelessness; and
350 (j)(i) An ongoing planning mechanism to address the needs
351 of all subgroups of the homeless population, including but not
352 limited to:
353 1. Single adult males;
354 2. Single adult females;
355 3. Families with children;
356 4. Families with no children;
357 5. Unaccompanied children and youth;
358 6. Elderly persons;
359 7. Persons with drug or alcohol addictions;
360 8. Persons with mental illness;
361 9. Persons with dual or multiple physical or mental
362 disorders;
363 10. Victims of domestic violence; and
364 11. Persons living with HIV/AIDS.
365 (8) Continuum of care plans must promote participation by
366 all interested individuals and organizations and may not exclude
367 individuals and organizations on the basis of race, color,
368 national origin, sex, handicap, familial status, or religion.
369 Faith-based organizations must be encouraged to participate. To
370 the extent possible, these components must should be coordinated
371 and integrated with other mainstream health, social services,
372 and employment programs for which homeless populations may be
373 eligible, including Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance
374 Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Food
375 Assistance Program, and services funded through the Mental
376 Health and Substance Abuse Block Grant, the Workforce Investment
377 Act, and the welfare-to-work grant program.
378 Section 7. Section 420.6265, Florida Statutes, is created
379 to read:
380 420.6265 Rapid ReHousing.—
381 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—
382 (a) The Legislature finds that Rapid ReHousing is a
383 strategy of using temporary financial assistance and case
384 management to quickly move an individual or family out of
385 homelessness and into permanent housing.
386 (b) The Legislature also finds that public and private
387 solutions to homelessness in the past have focused on providing
388 individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness with
389 emergency shelter, transitional housing, or a combination of
390 both. While emergency shelter and transitional housing programs
391 may provide critical access to services for individuals and
392 families in crisis, the programs often fail to address their
393 long-term needs.
394 (c) The Legislature further finds that most households
395 become homeless as a result of a financial crisis that prevents
396 individuals and families from paying rent or a domestic conflict
397 that results in one member being ejected or leaving without
398 resources or a plan for housing.
399 (d) The Legislature further finds that Rapid ReHousing is
400 an alternative approach to the current system of emergency
401 shelter or transitional housing which tends to reduce the length
402 of time a person is homeless and has proven to be cost
403 effective.
404 (e) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to
405 encourage homeless continuums of care to adopt the Rapid
406 ReHousing approach to preventing homelessness for individuals
407 and families who do not require the intense level of supports
408 provided in the permanent supportive housing model.
409 (2) RAPID REHOUSING METHODOLOGY.—
410 (a) The Rapid ReHousing response to homelessness differs
411 from traditional approaches to addressing homelessness by
412 focusing on each individual’s or family’s barriers to housing.
413 By using this approach, communities can significantly reduce the
414 amount of time that individuals and families are homeless and
415 prevent further episodes of homelessness.
416 (b) In Rapid ReHousing, an individual or family is
417 identified as being homeless, temporary assistance is provided
418 to allow the individual or family to obtain permanent housing as
419 quickly as possible, and, if needed, assistance is provided to
420 allow the individual or family to retain housing.
421 (c) The objective of Rapid ReHousing is to provide
422 assistance for as short a term as possible so that the
423 individual or family receiving assistance does not develop a
424 dependency on the assistance.
425 Section 8. Subsections (16), (25), and (26) of section
426 420.9071, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
427 420.9071 Definitions.—As used in ss. 420.907-420.9079, the
428 term:
429 (16) “Local housing incentive strategies” means local
430 regulatory reform or incentive programs to encourage or
431 facilitate affordable housing production, which include at a
432 minimum, assurance that permits as defined in s. 163.3164 for
433 affordable housing projects are expedited to a greater degree
434 than other projects, as provided in s. 163.3177(6)(f)3.; an
435 ongoing process for review of local policies, ordinances,
436 regulations, and plan provisions that increase the cost of
437 housing prior to their adoption; and a schedule for implementing
438 the incentive strategies. Local housing incentive strategies may
439 also include other regulatory reforms, such as those enumerated
440 in s. 420.9076 or those recommended by the affordable housing
441 advisory committee in its triennial evaluation of the
442 implementation of affordable housing incentives, and adopted by
443 the local governing body.
444 (25) “Recaptured funds” means funds that are recouped by a
445 county or eligible municipality in accordance with the recapture
446 provisions of its local housing assistance plan pursuant to s.
447 420.9075(5)(j) s. 420.9075(5)(h) from eligible persons or
448 eligible sponsors, which funds were not used for assistance to
449 an eligible household for an eligible activity, when there is a
450 default on the terms of a grant award or loan award.
451 (26) “Rent subsidies” means ongoing monthly rental
452 assistance. The term does not include initial assistance to
453 tenants, such as grants or loans for security and utility
454 deposits.
455 Section 9. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and subsection
456 (7) of section 420.9072, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
457 420.9072 State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program.—The
458 State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program is created for the
459 purpose of providing funds to counties and eligible
460 municipalities as an incentive for the creation of local housing
461 partnerships, to expand production of and preserve affordable
462 housing, to further the housing element of the local government
463 comprehensive plan specific to affordable housing, and to
464 increase housing-related employment.
465 (3)
466 (b) Within 45 30 days after receiving a plan, the review
467 committee shall review the plan and either approve it or
468 identify inconsistencies with the requirements of the program.
469 The corporation shall assist a local government in revising its
470 plan if it initially proves to be inconsistent with program
471 requirements. A plan that is revised by the local government to
472 achieve consistency with program requirements shall be reviewed
473 within 45 30 days after submission. The deadlines for submitting
474 original and revised plans shall be established by corporation
475 rule; however, the corporation shall not require submission of a
476 new local housing assistance plan to implement amendments to
477 this act until the currently effective plan expires.
478 (7)(a) A county or an eligible municipality must expend its
479 portion of the local housing distribution only to implement a
480 local housing assistance plan or as provided in this subsection.
481 A county or an eligible municipality may not expend its portion
482 of the local housing distribution to provide rent subsidies;
483 however, this does not prohibit the use of funds for security
484 and utility deposit assistance.
485 (b) A county or an eligible municipality may not expend its
486 portion of the local housing distribution to provide ongoing
487 rent subsidies, except for:
488 1. Security and utility deposit assistance.
489 2. Eviction prevention not to exceed 6 months’ rent.
490 3. A rent subsidy program for very-low-income households
491 with at least one adult who is a person with special needs as
492 defined in s. 420.0004 or homeless as defined in s. 420.621. The
493 period of rental assistance may not exceed 12 months for any
494 eligible household.
495 Section 10. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
496 420.9075, Florida Statutes, is amended, paragraphs (f) and (g)
497 are added to subsection (3) of that section, paragraph (e) of
498 subsection (4) of that section is amended, present paragraph (b)
499 of subsection (5) of that section is redesignated as paragraph
500 (c), present paragraphs (c) through (l) of that subsection are
501 redesignated as paragraphs (e) through (n), respectively, new
502 paragraphs (b) and (d) are added to that subsection, present
503 paragraph (l) of that subsection is amended, paragraph (i) is
504 added to subsection (10) of that section, and paragraph (b) of
505 subsection (13) of that section is amended, to read:
506 420.9075 Local housing assistance plans; partnerships.—
507 (2)(a) Each county and each eligible municipality
508 participating in the State Housing Initiatives Partnership
509 Program shall encourage the involvement of appropriate public
510 sector and private sector entities as partners in order to
511 combine resources to reduce housing costs for the targeted
512 population. This partnership process should involve:
513 1. Lending institutions.
514 2. Housing builders and developers.
515 3. Nonprofit and other community-based housing and service
516 organizations.
517 4. Providers of professional services relating to
518 affordable housing.
519 5. Advocates for low-income persons, including, but not
520 limited to, homeless people, the elderly, and migrant
521 farmworkers.
522 6. Real estate professionals.
523 7. Other persons or entities who can assist in providing
524 housing or related support services.
525 8. Lead agencies of local homeless assistance continuums of
526 care.
527 (3)
528 (f) Each county and each eligible municipality is
529 encouraged to develop a strategy within its local housing
530 assistance plan which provides program funds for reducing
531 homelessness.
532 (g) Local governments may create regional partnerships
533 across jurisdictional boundaries through the pooling of
534 appropriated funds to address homeless housing needs identified
535 in local housing assistance plans.
536 (4) Each local housing assistance plan is governed by the
537 following criteria and administrative procedures:
538 (e) The staff or entity that has administrative authority
539 for implementing a local housing assistance plan assisting
540 rental developments shall annually monitor and determine tenant
541 eligibility or, to the extent another governmental entity or
542 corporation program provides periodic the same monitoring and
543 determination, a municipality, county, or local housing
544 financing authority may rely on such monitoring and
545 determination of tenant eligibility. However, any loan or grant
546 in the original amount of $10,000 3,000 or less is shall not be
547 subject to these annual monitoring and determination of tenant
548 eligibility requirements.
549 (5) The following criteria apply to awards made to eligible
550 sponsors or eligible persons for the purpose of providing
551 eligible housing:
552 (b) Up to 25 percent of the funds made available in each
553 county and eligible municipality from the local housing
554 distribution may be reserved for rental housing for eligible
555 persons or for the purposes enumerated in s. 420.9072(7)(b).
556 (d) Each local government must use a minimum of 20 percent
557 of its allocation to serve persons with special needs as defined
558 in s. 420.0004. A local government must certify that it will
559 meet this requirement through existing approved strategies in
560 the local housing assistance plan or submit a new local housing
561 assistance plan strategy for this purpose to the corporation for
562 approval to ensure that it meets these specifications. The first
563 priority of these special needs funds must be to serve persons
564 with developmental disabilities as defined in s. 393.063, with
565 an emphasis on home modifications, including technological
566 enhancements and devices, which will allow homeowners to remain
567 independent in their own homes and maintain their homeownership.
568 (n)(l) Funds from the local housing distribution not used
569 to meet the criteria established in paragraph (a) or paragraph
570 (c) (b) or not used for the administration of a local housing
571 assistance plan must be used for housing production and finance
572 activities, including, but not limited to, financing
573 preconstruction activities or the purchase of existing units,
574 providing rental housing, and providing home ownership training
575 to prospective home buyers and owners of homes assisted through
576 the local housing assistance plan.
577 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (c)
578 (b), program income as defined in s. 420.9071(24) may also be
579 used to fund activities described in this paragraph.
580 2. When preconstruction due-diligence activities conducted
581 as part of a preservation strategy show that preservation of the
582 units is not feasible and will not result in the production of
583 an eligible unit, such costs shall be deemed a program expense
584 rather than an administrative expense if such program expenses
585 do not exceed 3 percent of the annual local housing
586 distribution.
587 3. If both an award under the local housing assistance plan
588 and federal low-income housing tax credits are used to assist a
589 project and there is a conflict between the criteria prescribed
590 in this subsection and the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal
591 Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the county or eligible
592 municipality may resolve the conflict by giving precedence to
593 the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
594 as amended, in lieu of following the criteria prescribed in this
595 subsection with the exception of paragraphs (a) and (g) (e) of
596
597 ====== D I R E C T O R Y C L A U S E A M E N D M E N T ======
598 And the directory clause is amended as follows:
599 Delete lines 140 - 141
600 and insert:
601 to that subsection, subsection (35) of that section is amended,
602 and subsection (50) is added to that section, to read:
603
604 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
605 And the title is amended as follows:
606 Delete lines 31 - 88
607 and insert:
608 developed plans; requiring the office, in consultation
609 with the designated lead agencies for a local homeless
610 continuum of care and with the Council on
611 Homelessness, to develop the system and process of
612 data collection from all lead agencies, subject to
613 certain requirements; deleting the requirement that
614 the Council on Homelessness explore the potential of
615 creating a statewide Homeless Management Information
616 System and encourage future participation of certain
617 award or grant recipients; requiring the State Office
618 on Homelessness to accept and administer moneys
619 appropriated to it to provide annual Challenge Grants
620 to certain lead agencies of homeless assistance
621 continuums of care; removing the requirement that
622 levels of grant awards be based upon the total
623 population within the continuum of care catchment area
624 and reflect the differing degrees of homelessness in
625 the respective areas; revising the requirement that a
626 lead agency document the commitment of local
627 government and private organizations to provide
628 matching funds or in-kind support in an amount equal
629 to the grant requested; authorizing expenditures of
630 leveraged funds or resources only for eligible
631 activities, subject to certain requirements; revising
632 the preference given to certain lead agencies that
633 have demonstrated the ability to leverage federal
634 homeless-assistance funding under the Stewart B.
635 McKinney Act; requiring the State Office on
636 Homelessness, in conjunction with the Council on
637 Homelessness, to establish specific objectives by
638 which it may evaluate the outcomes of certain lead
639 agencies; requiring that any funding through the State
640 Office on Homelessness be distributed to lead agencies
641 based on their performance and achievement of
642 specified objectives; revising the factors that may be
643 included as criteria for evaluating the performance of
644 lead agencies; amending s. 420.624, F.S.; revising
645 requirements for the local homeless assistance
646 continuum of care plan; providing that the components
647 of a continuum of care plan should include Rapid
648 ReHousing; requiring that specified components of a
649 continuum of care plan be coordinated and integrated
650 with other specified services and programs; creating
651 s. 420.6265, F.S.; providing legislative findings and
652 intent relating to Rapid ReHousing; providing a Rapid
653 ReHousing methodology; amending s. 420.9071, F.S.;
654 redefining the terms “local housing incentive
655 strategies” and “rent subsidies”; conforming cross
656 references; amending s. 420.9072, F.S.; increasing the
657 number of days within which a review committee is
658 required to review a local housing assistance plan or
659 plan revision after receiving it; prohibiting a county
660 or an eligible municipality from expending its portion
661 of the local housing distribution to provide ongoing
662 rent subsidies; specifying exceptions; amending s.
663 420.9075, F.S.; providing that a certain partnership
664 process of the State Housing Initiatives Partnership
665 Program should involve lead agencies of local homeless
666 assistance continuums of care; encouraging counties
667 and eligible municipalities to develop a strategy
668 within their local housing assistance plans which
669 provides program funds for reducing homelessness;
670 authorizing local governments to create certain
671 regional partnerships to address homeless housing
672 needs identified in local housing assistance plans;