SF 3790

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 03/05/2020 09:47am

A bill for an act
relating to housing; modifying criteria for housing grants and loans; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, sections 462A.24; 462A.37, subdivision 2;
474A.061, subdivision 2a; 474A.091, subdivision 3.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, section 462A.24, is amended to read:

462A.24 CONSTRUCTION; GRANTS AND LOANS; PRIORITIES.

(a) This chapter is necessary for the welfare of the state of Minnesota and its inhabitants;
therefore, it shall be liberally construed to effect its purpose.

(b) To the extent practicable, the agency shall award grant and loan amounts with a
reasonable balance between nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas of the state.

(c) Beginning with applications made in response to requests for proposals issued after
July 1, 2020, after final decisions are made on applications for programs of the agency, the
results of any quantitative scoring system used to rank applications shall be posted on the
agency website.

new text begin (d) The agency shall award points in the agency's decision-making criteria for all
programs of the agency based on how quickly a project can be constructed.
new text end

new text begin (e) The agency shall not finance a housing project when the cost-per-unit of state-financed
housing is greater than the cost of a median single family house in the municipality or
township where the housing project is to be constructed.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, section 462A.37, subdivision 2, is amended
to read:

Subd. 2.

Authorization.

(a) The agency may issue up to $30,000,000 in aggregate
principal amount of housing infrastructure bonds in one or more series to which the payment
made under this section may be pledged. The housing infrastructure bonds authorized in
this subdivision may be issued to fund loans, or grants for the purposes of clause (4), on
terms and conditions the agency deems appropriate, made for one or more of the following
purposes:

(1) to finance the costs of the construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of supportive
housing for individuals and families who are without a permanent residence;

(2) to finance the costs of the acquisition and rehabilitation of foreclosed or abandoned
housing to be used for affordable rental housing and the costs of new construction of rental
housing on abandoned or foreclosed property where the existing structures will be demolished
or removed;

(3) to finance that portion of the costs of acquisition of property that is attributable to
the land to be leased by community land trusts to low- and moderate-income homebuyers;

(4) to finance the acquisition, improvement, and infrastructure of manufactured home
parks under section 462A.2035, subdivision 1b;

(5) to finance the costs of acquisition, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, or new construction
of senior housing; and

(6) to finance the costs of acquisition and rehabilitation of federally assisted rental
housing and for the refinancing of costs of the construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation
of federally assisted rental housing, including providing funds to refund, in whole or in part,
outstanding bonds previously issued by the agency or another government unit to finance
or refinance such costs.

(b) Among comparable proposals for permanent supportive housing, preference shall
be given to permanent supportive housing for veterans and other individuals or families
who:

(1) either have been without a permanent residence for at least 12 months or at least four
times in the last three years; or

(2) are at significant risk of lacking a permanent residence for 12 months or at least four
times in the last three years.

(c) Among comparable proposals for senior housing, the agency must give priority to
requests for projects that:

(1) demonstrate a commitment to maintaining the housing financed as affordable to
seniors;

(2) leverage other sources of funding to finance the project, including the use of
low-income housing tax credits;

(3) provide access to services to residents and demonstrate the ability to increase physical
supports and support services as residents age and experience increasing levels of disability;

(4) provide a service plan containing the elements of clause (3) reviewed by the housing
authority, economic development authority, public housing authority, or community
development agency that has an area of operation for the jurisdiction in which the project
is located; and

(5) include households with incomes that do not exceed 30 percent of the median
household income for the metropolitan area.

new text begin (d) new text end To the extent practicable, the agency shall balance the loans made between projects
in the metropolitan area and projects outside the metropolitan area. Of the loans made to
projects outside the metropolitan area, the agency shall, to the extent practicable, balance
the loans made between projects in counties or cities with a population of 20,000 or less,
as established by the most recent decennial census, and projects in counties or cities with
populations in excess of 20,000.

new text begin (e) For the first eight months after issuing bonds under this section, the agency shall
allocate the bond proceeds in equal shares for projects in each congressional district. After
the eight-month period, the agency may use unused bond proceeds from a congressional
district allocation for projects in another congressional district.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, section 474A.061, subdivision 2a, is amended
to read:

Subd. 2a.

Housing pool allocation.

(a) Commencing on the second Tuesday in January
and continuing on each Monday through the last Monday in June, the commissioner shall
allocate available bonding authority from the housing pool to applications received on or
before the Monday of the preceding week for residential rental projects that meet the
eligibility criteria under section 474A.047. Allocations of available bonding authority from
the housing pool for eligible residential rental projects shall be awarded in the following
order of priority:

(1) preservation projects;

(2) 30 percent AMI residential rental projects;

(3) 50 percent AMI residential rental projects;

(4) 100 percent LIHTC projects;

(5) 20 percent LIHTC projects; and

(6) other residential rental projects for which the amount of bonds requested in their
respective applications do not exceed the aggregate bond limitation.

If there are two or more applications for residential rental projects at the same priority level
and there is insufficient bonding authority to provide allocations for all the projects in any
one allocation period, available bonding authority shall be deleted text begin randomly deleted text end awarded by deleted text begin lot deleted text end new text begin giving
preference for projects with a lower cost-per-unit of housing new text end but only for projects that can
receive the full amount of their respective requested allocations. If a residential rental project
does not receive any of its requested allocation pursuant to this paragraph and the project
applies for an allocation of bonds again in the same calendar year or to the next successive
housing pool, the project shall be fully funded up to its original application request for
bonding authority before any new project, applying in the same allocation period, that has
an equal priority shall receive bonding authority. An issuer that receives an allocation under
this paragraph must issue obligations equal to all or a portion of the allocation received on
or before 180 days of the allocation. If an issuer that receives an allocation under this
paragraph does not issue obligations equal to all or a portion of the allocation received
within the time period provided in this paragraph or returns the allocation to the
commissioner, the amount of the allocation is canceled and returned for reallocation through
the housing pool or to the unified pool after July 1.

(b) After January 1, and through January 15, The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
may accept applications from cities for single-family housing programs which meet program
requirements as follows:

(1) the housing program must meet a locally identified housing need and be economically
viable;

(2) the adjusted income of home buyers may not exceed 80 percent of the greater of
statewide or area median income as published by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, adjusted for household size;

(3) house price limits may not exceed the federal price limits established for mortgage
revenue bond programs. Data on the home purchase price amount, mortgage amount, income,
household size, and race of the households served in the previous year's single-family
housing program, if any, must be included in each application; and

(4) for applicants who choose to have the agency issue bonds on their behalf, an
application fee pursuant to section 474A.03, subdivision 4, and an application deposit equal
to one percent of the requested allocation must be submitted to the Minnesota Housing
Finance Agency before the agency forwards the list specifying the amounts allocated to the
commissioner under paragraph (d). The agency shall submit the city's application fee and
application deposit to the commissioner when requesting an allocation from the housing
pool.

Applications by a consortium shall include the name of each member of the consortium
and the amount of allocation requested by each member.

(c) Any amounts remaining in the housing pool after June 15 are available for
single-family housing programs for cities that applied in January and received an allocation
under this section in the same calendar year. For a city that chooses to issue bonds on its
own behalf or pursuant to a joint powers agreement, the agency must allot available bonding
authority based on the formula in paragraphs (d) and (f). Allocations will be made loan by
loan, on a first-come, first-served basis among cities on whose behalf the Minnesota Housing
Finance Agency issues bonds.

Any city that received an allocation pursuant to paragraph (f) in the same calendar year
that wishes to issue bonds on its own behalf or pursuant to a joint powers agreement for an
amount becoming available for single-family housing programs after June 15 shall notify
the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency by June 15. The Minnesota Housing Finance
Agency shall notify each city making a request of the amount of its allocation within three
business days after June 15. The city must comply with paragraph (f).

For purposes of paragraphs (a) to (h), "city" means a county or a consortium of local
government units that agree through a joint powers agreement to apply together for
single-family housing programs, and has the meaning given it in section 462C.02, subdivision
6. "Agency" means the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.

(d) The total amount of allocation for mortgage bonds for one city is limited to the lesser
of: (i) the amount requested, or (ii) the product of the total amount available for mortgage
bonds from the housing pool, multiplied by the ratio of each applicant's population as
determined by the most recent estimate of the city's population released by the state
demographer's office to the total of all the applicants' population, except that each applicant
shall be allocated a minimum of $100,000 regardless of the amount requested or the amount
determined under the formula in clause (ii). If a city applying for an allocation is located
within a county that has also applied for an allocation, the city's population will be deducted
from the county's population in calculating the amount of allocations under this paragraph.

Upon determining the amount of each applicant's allocation, the agency shall forward
to the commissioner a list specifying the amounts allotted to each application with all
application fees and deposits from applicants who choose to have the agency issue bonds
on their behalf.

Total allocations from the housing pool for single-family housing programs may not
exceed 27 percent of the adjusted allocation to the housing pool until after June 15 in 2020
and 2021, after which the allocations may not exceed 31 percent of the adjusted allocation
to the housing pool until after June 15.

(e) The agency may issue bonds on behalf of participating cities. The agency shall request
an allocation from the commissioner for all applicants who choose to have the agency issue
bonds on their behalf and the commissioner shall allocate the requested amount to the
agency. The agency may request an allocation at any time after the second Tuesday in
January and through the last Monday in June. After awarding an allocation and receiving
a notice of issuance for the mortgage bonds issued on behalf of the participating cities, the
commissioner shall transfer the application deposits to the Minnesota Housing Finance
Agency to be returned to the participating cities. The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
shall return any application deposit to a city that paid an application deposit under paragraph
(b), clause (4), but was not part of the list forwarded to the commissioner under paragraph
(d).

(f) A city may choose to issue bonds on its own behalf or through a joint powers
agreement and may request an allocation from the commissioner by forwarding an application
with an application fee pursuant to section 474A.03, subdivision 4, and a one percent
application deposit to the commissioner no later than the Monday of the week preceding
an allocation. If the total amount requested by all applicants exceeds the amount available
in the pool, the city may not receive a greater allocation than the amount it would have
received under the list forwarded by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to the
commissioner. No city may request or receive an allocation from the commissioner until
the list under paragraph (d) has been forwarded to the commissioner. A city must request
an allocation from the commissioner no later than the last Monday in June. No city may
receive an allocation from the housing pool for mortgage bonds which has not first applied
to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. The commissioner shall allocate the requested
amount to the city or cities subject to the limitations under this paragraph.

If a city issues mortgage bonds from an allocation received under this paragraph, the
issuer must provide for the recycling of funds into new loans. If the issuer is not able to
provide for recycling, the issuer must notify the commissioner in writing of the reason that
recycling was not possible and the reason the issuer elected not to have the Minnesota
Housing Finance Agency issue the bonds. "Recycling" means the use of money generated
from the repayment and prepayment of loans for further eligible loans or for the redemption
of bonds and the issuance of current refunding bonds.

(g) No entitlement city or county or city in an entitlement county may apply for or be
allocated authority to issue mortgage bonds or use mortgage credit certificates from the
housing pool. No city in an entitlement county may apply for or be allocated authority to
issue residential rental bonds from the housing pool or the unified pool.

(h) A city that does not use at least 50 percent of its allotment by the date applications
are due for the first allocation that is made from the housing pool for single-family housing
programs in the immediately succeeding calendar year may not apply to the housing pool
for a single-family mortgage bond or mortgage credit certificate program allocation that
exceeds the amount of its allotment for the preceding year that was used by the city in the
immediately preceding year or receive an allotment from the housing pool in the succeeding
calendar year that exceeds the amount of its allotment for the preceding year that was used
in the preceding year. The minimum allotment is $100,000 for an allocation made prior to
June 15, regardless of the amount used in the preceding calendar year, except that a city
whose allocation in the preceding year was the minimum amount of $100,000 and who did
not use at least 50 percent of its allocation from the preceding year is ineligible for an
allocation in the immediate succeeding calendar year. Each local government unit in a
consortium must meet the requirements of this paragraph.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, section 474A.091, subdivision 3, is amended
to read:

Subd. 3.

Allocation procedure.

(a) The commissioner shall allocate available bonding
authority under this section on the Monday of every other week beginning with the first
Monday in July through and on the last Monday in November. Applications for allocations
must be received by the department by 4:30 p.m. on the Monday preceding the Monday on
which allocations are to be made. If a Monday falls on a holiday, the allocation will be made
or the applications must be received by the next business day after the holiday.

(b) Prior to October 1, only the following applications shall be awarded allocations from
the unified pool. Allocations shall be awarded in the following order of priority:

(1) applications for residential rental project bonds;

(2) applications for small issue bonds for manufacturing projects; and

(3) applications for small issue bonds for agricultural development bond loan projects.

(c) On the first Monday in October through the last Monday in November, allocations
shall be awarded from the unified pool in the following order of priority:

(1) applications for student loan bonds issued by or on behalf of the Minnesota Office
of Higher Education;

(2) applications for mortgage bonds;

(3) applications for public facility projects funded by public facility bonds;

(4) applications for small issue bonds for manufacturing projects;

(5) applications for small issue bonds for agricultural development bond loan projects;

(6) applications for residential rental project bonds;

(7) applications for enterprise zone facility bonds;

(8) applications for governmental bonds; and

(9) applications for redevelopment bonds.

(d) If there are two or more applications for manufacturing projects from the unified
pool and there is insufficient bonding authority to provide allocations for all manufacturing
projects in any one allocation period, the available bonding authority shall be awarded based
on the number of points awarded a project under section 474A.045 with those projects
receiving the greatest number of points receiving allocation first. If two or more applications
for manufacturing projects receive an equal amount of points, available bonding authority
shall be awarded by lot unless otherwise agreed to by the respective issuers.

(e) If there are two or more applications for enterprise zone facility projects from the
unified pool and there is insufficient bonding authority to provide allocations for all enterprise
zone facility projects in any one allocation period, the available bonding authority shall be
awarded based on the number of points awarded a project under section 474A.045 with
those projects receiving the greatest number of points receiving allocation first. If two or
more applications for enterprise zone facility projects receive an equal amount of points,
available bonding authority shall be awarded by lot unless otherwise agreed to by the
respective issuers.

(f) If there are two or more applications for residential rental projects from the unified
pool and there is insufficient bonding authority to provide allocations for all residential
rental projects in any one allocation period, the available bonding authority shall be awarded
in the following order of priority: (1) preservation projects; (2) 30 percent AMI residential
rental projects; (3) 50 percent AMI residential rental projects for which the amount of bonds
requested in their respective applications do not exceed the aggregate bond limitations; (4)
100 percent LIHTC projects; (5) 20 percent LIHTC projects; and (6) other residential rental
projects. If there are two or more applications for residential rental projects at the same
priority level and there is insufficient bonding authority to provide allocations for all the
projects in any one allocation period, available bonding authority shall be deleted text begin randomly deleted text end awarded
by deleted text begin lot deleted text end new text begin giving preference for projects with a lower cost-per-unit of housing new text end but only for
projects that can receive the full amount of their respective requested allocations. If a
residential rental project does not receive any of its requested allocation pursuant to this
paragraph and the project applies in the next successive housing pool or the next successive
unified pool for an allocation of bonds, the project shall be fully funded up to its original
application request for bonding authority before any new project, applying in the same
allocation period, that has an equal priority shall receive bonding authority.

(g) From the first Monday in July through the last Monday in November, $20,000,000
of bonding authority or an amount equal to the total annual amount of bonding authority
allocated to the small issue pool under section 474A.03, subdivision 1, less the amount
allocated to issuers from the small issue pool for that year, whichever is less, is reserved
within the unified pool for small issue bonds to the extent the amounts are available within
the unified pool.

(h) The total amount of allocations for mortgage bonds from the housing pool and the
unified pool may not exceed:

(1) $10,000,000 for any one city; or

(2) $20,000,000 for any number of cities in any one county.

(i) The total amount of allocations for student loan bonds from the unified pool may not
exceed $25,000,000 per year.

(j) If there is insufficient bonding authority to fund all projects within any qualified bond
category other than enterprise zone facility projects, manufacturing projects, and residential
rental projects, allocations shall be awarded by lot unless otherwise agreed to by the
respective issuers.

(k) If an application is rejected, the commissioner must notify the applicant and return
the application deposit to the applicant within 30 days unless the applicant requests in writing
that the application be resubmitted.

(l) The granting of an allocation of bonding authority under this section must be evidenced
by issuance of a certificate of allocation.