TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Jonathan R. Lewis, ICMA-CM, City Manager
TITLE: 2016/2017 Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTCP) Contribution Findings
Recommended Action
Approve contribution allocations of $50,000, either monetary or in-kind, to support applications for the 2016/2017 City of North Port Contribution Reservation process for applicants participating in the State of Florida Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC).
Background Information
At the March 31, 2016 Commission Workshop, the topic of available housing stock to accommodate low to moderate income levels within the City was discussed. The City Commission gave direction to staff to develop a streamlined program and approach to those who wish to apply to the State of Florida for tax credits under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC). The Commission has had concerns regarding the limited information and time constraints to make decisions as far as community and contributions to these requests. These issues have been felt statewide, and have prompted many Cities and Counties to create a proactive program to streamline this process, gain the appropriate analysis, review by a ranking committee, and present findings to the Commission. This process leads to encouraging affordable housing to the appropriate areas and is at the Commissions discretion to contribute or not.
On July 26, 2016 the City Commission approved a formal application process in order to allow for vetting of applicants wishing to request the required $50,000 local funding contribution pursuant to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program through the State of Florida. As part of the newly created process, the City of North Port published a Notice of Request for Applications in the North Port Sun Herald on August 12, 2016 for Reservation of Contributions to the Development/Rehabilitation of Affordable Multi-Family Rental Housing funded through the State of Florida’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. Five applications were submitted to the City by the advertised deadline of October 14th, 2016.
The Housing Tax Credit Program was created to increase the number of low income rental housing units. The Housing Credit program is governed by the U.S. Department of Treasury under Section 252 of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code. Housing need is assessed annually based on current statewide market studies and funds are distributed each year throughout Florida counties.
The selection process is highly competitive. Only one application per county will be chosen. To ensure a fair and impartial review process, the City of North Port established criteria that must be met in order for an application to be considered. This process has allowed staff to review the proposals and determine if the project is within an area that has supportive infrastructure, transit, employment opportunities and so forth and rank the applications based on values and goals that reflect the City’s Comprehensive Plan for affordable housing.
On October 17th, all accepted applications were reviewed by a panel of City staff from Fire, Public Works, Engineering, Economic Development and the Planning Division. Staff evaluated each project individually on a point based system as approved by City Commission. Assessments were made on project location, housing need, project characteristics, developer experience and overall project feasibility. Project similarities were separated by factors such as the projects consistency with the neighborhood character, the shovel readiness of the project and the ability to provide synergy to transform the neighborhood or Activity Center.
Findings
The five (5) applications were found to meet the minimum threshold criteria for all requested information including but not limited to financial capability, and previous program experience.
The five projects were rated based on the adopted criteria as follows and scored as follows:
Project Name Score 0-48
• Creighton Creek Senior Apartments 38
• Spring Cove 48
• Toledo Place 36.5
• The Pointe at Price Crossing 39
• The Pointe at Toledo Village 43
.
A more detail summary of the projects, conceptual site plans, and location are incorporated within the attached Project Summary Memorandum. The applications are attached for your review. As only one application per County is approved through the LIHTCP process at the State level, the City Commission at their discretion may approve for a monetary or in-kind contribution of:
• None of the applications
• The top scoring application(s) of their choosing
• Or all of the applications to increase the possibility of a successful proposal within the City of North Port.
Strategic Plan
The strategic plan calls for diversified and affordable housing choices along with a City process that is simple, streamlined, and predictable.
Financial Impact
If a project approved by the Florida Housing Funding Corporation, the Commission is directing that $50,000 of 2016/2017 General funds will be allocated to an awarded applicant of a North Port projects as a sole project in the County. Funding for this is not currently included in the preliminary 2016-2017 budget and a service level adjustment will need to be added to the proposed budget.
Procurement
Attachments:
1. LIHTCP Projects Overview & Findings
2. Toledo Village
3. Toledo Place
4. Spring Cove
5. Pride Crossing
6. Creighton Creek
Prepared by: Mary McNish & Josh Pelfrey
Department Director: Scott Williams