Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Leonard Vialpando
Department: Resilient Environment Division: Housing Finance Division
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO APPROVE use of Housing Finance Authority funds as Local Government Contribution (“LGC”) for Broward County affordable housing projects submitted to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (“FHFC”), via the solicitation outlined within the 2022/2023 FHFC Requests For Application (“RFA”s), and authorize future Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) or HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) federal funds or other available Broward County affordable housing resources to replace the Housing Finance Authority of Broward County (the “HFA”) reserve funds, up to $2,000,000, if one or more local projects are selected by the FHFC.
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Why Action is Necessary
Approval of the use of HFA funding is required by Board of County Commissioners.
What Action Accomplishes
Allows the HFA to provide up to $2,000,000 from its reserve account to provide an LGC (estimated value of $100,000 per project) for the 2022/2023 FHFC RFAs, subject to replacing the HFA funding with CDBG, HOME or other available County affordable housing resources if one or more projects are selected by the FHFC.
Is this Action Goal Related
Yes
Previous Action Taken
None taken.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE RESILIENT ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT AND THE HOUSING FINANCE DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
This item supports the Board’s vision of offering sustainable, compatible, innovative housing options for all income-levels integrated supportive housing and rapid-rehousing: Goal 1: Facilitate a regional approach to growth and redevelopment through coordination and collaboration at the federal, state, and local levels; Goal 2: Increase the availability of affordable housing of all types, countywide, in every community using effective, uniform criteria, policies and strategies; Goal 3: Identify affordable workforce housing funding, to include a local, dedicated source of revenue; Goal 4: Develop, through municipal collaboration, neighborhoods and communities connecting affordable housing to reliable, accessible modes of transportation; and Goal 5: Promote housing and community redevelopment that integrates energy efficiency, community resilience, and other livability standards and initiatives.
On July 12, 2022, FHFC published its “Florida Housing Finance Corporation Tentative 2022/2023 Funding Amounts/Time Lines” (“FHFC 2022/2023 Time Line”), charting the estimated amounts and deadlines for its various funding programs, including 9% tax credit financing and State Apartment Investment Loan (SAIL) funding, (collectively, the “2022/2023 FHFC RFAs”). The tentative deadlines to apply for the 2022/2023 FHFC RFAs that are expected to require an LGC begin in December 2022 and run through April 2023. As many FHFC 2021/2022 RFAs have not been published, it is possible that additional RFAs may require an LGC or that the FHFC 2022/2023 timeline may be revised to include additional RFAs requiring an LGC. In order to achieve the maximum possible score within the 2022/2023 FHFC RFAs requiring an LGC, a multifamily development project is required to have an LGC with an expected value of at least $100,000.
Each year, the Broward County Housing Finance Division advertises for applications for use of the annual CDBG and HOME funds allocations. The mismatch between County and FHFC funding cycles may preclude the ability for the Board of County Commissioners (Board) to timely provide CDBG, HOME or other housing funds to serve as LGCs for the recently announced FHFC RFAs. Therefore, to provide developers an opportunity to get a local match certification for the RFA funding opportunities, the HFA, at its August 17, 2022 board meeting, approved Resolution 2022-016 (Exhibit 1) authorizing the use of up to $2,000,000 from the HFA Reserve Account to provide a LGC for the 2022/2023 FHFC RFAs, subject to using future CDBG, HOME or other available County affordable housing resources to replace the use of HFA funds if one or more projects are approved by FHFC. The HFA Resolution 2022-016 was approved as to form by the Office of the County Attorney.
This action would allow Broward County projects the opportunity to take advantage of the significant financing leverage that is provided by the 2022/2023 FHFC RFAs. Without the LGC, Broward County projects would not achieve maximum scoring and, therefore, would not be competitive in the FHFC process. All selected projects will require future Board approval for the allocation of CDBG funds, HOME funds, or other available County affordable housing resources in calendar years 2022 or 2023.
It should be noted that there are approximately three to five Broward County projects that receive FHFC funding annually.
Source of Additional Information
Ralph Stone, Director, Housing Finance Division, 954-357-5320
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
No fiscal impact.