Relates to the application and effective date of chapter 199 of the laws of 2008

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of the bill would delete section 4 of chapter 199 of the laws of 2008, as amended by section 1 of chapter 140 of the laws of 2010, which requires that the Housing Trust Fund Corporation submit an annual report to the Legislature.

Section 2 of the bill would delete section 5 of chapter 199 of the laws of 2008, as amended by section 2 of chapter 140 the laws of 2010, that provided for the sunset of amendments made in 2008 to the PHFL.

Section 3 of the bill would provide for an immediate effective date.

Existing law

Chapter 199 of the laws of 2008 amended the above-referenced sections of the PHFL to expand eligibility for the low income housing trust fund program, thereby allowing additional projects to receive program funding. Section five of chapter 199 provided that those amendments would sunset on July 1, 2010. Chapter 140 of the laws of 2010 extended chapter 199's sunset provision, so that the Housing Trust Fund Corporation is currently authorized to continue the program's expanded eligibility through July 1, 2011. Section 4 of chapter 199, as amended by section 1 of chapter 140 of the laws of 2010, required the Housing Trust Fund Corporation to submit an annual report to the Legislature.

Prior legislative history

The sunset provision was previously extended in section 5 of chapter 199 of the laws of 2008, and section 2 of chapter 140 of the laws of 2010.

Statement in support

In order to address a continuing shortage of decent affordable housing in the State, PHFL §§ 1101 and 1102 were amended in 2008 to expand eligibility for additional projects to receive funding under the low income housing trust fund program. The amendments permit a residential property to be eligible for funding if the rehabilitation of the property would preserve

affordable housing serving a population whose housing needs would justify replacement of that housing. In addition, funding eligibility for non-residential property was expanded to include underutilized properties.

These amendments also increased the maximum award to $125,000 per unit, increased the percentage that may be used for project acquisition to 50% and authorized a limited amount of funds to cover the cost of community service facilities.

Using these more flexible standards, from July 7, 2008 through May 14, 2010, the Low Income Housing Trust Fund program awarded $91,347,004 in total grants throughout the State, financing the construction or rehabilitation 2,231 units. These standards should be made permanent, since they have provided the program with greater flexibility in order to address the increasingly complex and diverse affordable housing needs of the state's communities.

This bill would eliminate the section 5 sunset provision for sections one, two and four of chapter 199 of the laws of 2008, as amended by chapter 140 of the laws of 2010, because as noted above, the 2008 amended program requirements have resulted in a successful program capable of providing for the housing needs of low-income residents as envisioned under the Act. The increased funding limits and program enhancements have not had a deleterious effect on the program and thus they should be made permanent and the annual reporting requirement eliminated as unnecessary.

Budget implications

This bill has no budget implications.

Effective date

This bill would become effective immediately.