(A) Beginning with the 2017 General Obligation Bond Program, the Mayor is authorized and directed to set aside up to 8% of the biannual General Obligation Bond Capital Improvement Program, up to a maximum of $10,000,000 per two-year cycle, to be directed to the Trust Fund for the purpose of providing workforce housing. This set aside shall be presented as a separate bond question which solely addresses permanently affordable rental housing and affordable homeownership assistance which includes the contribution of land upon which the unit will be constructed, down payment assistance loan or any other type of direct or indirect financial assistance that enables the homebuyer to qualify for a Qualified Mortgage. If this question is turned down by the voters no CIP funds from that election shall be spent on workforce housing. All interest earnings of funds in the Trust Fund shall be re-appropriated to the Trust Fund. No funds in the Trust Fund can be appropriated or used for any other purpose than as described in the Workforce Housing Opportunity Act.
(B) The Fund income and interest earnings shall be appropriated for the purposes set forth in this article after recommendation by the Mayor and approval of the Council.
(C) Programming and Selection. The projects funded by the Trust Fund shall be selected and programmed as provided below:
(1) The Affordable Housing Committee. The Affordable Housing Committee shall serve as the advisory committee to develop the Workforce Housing Plan and Needs Assessment and shall conduct an annual review of Plan progress.
(2) Workforce Housing Plan and Needs Assessment. The Committee, with the staff support of the Department of Family and Community Services (the Department) or its successor and technical support from representatives of the Office of Economic Development and the Planning Department, shall develop a Five Year Workforce Housing Plan (also known as the Affordable Housing Plan), which shall be updated every five years. The Affordable Housing Plan shall be in accordance with the Affordable Housing Act (NMSA 1978, § 62-7-1 et seq.) (Act), and the Affordable Housing Act Rules (Rules). The Affordable Housing Plan shall be based on a thorough needs assessment conducted by the Department showing the housing conditions of families at and below 80% of area median income broken out by community planning areas, income classification, special needs, seniors, and homeless, and addressing the displacement of low income families. The Affordable Housing Plan shall identify the change in the City of Albuquerque of the number of market rate, affordable and non-affordable housing units, by income category and tenure, over the previous five years. The Affordable Housing Plan shall include all resources available to address affordable housing needs including, but not limited to, CDBG, HOME, other grants, the City General Fund, Enterprise Funds, other City Housing Funds, State of New Mexico, and Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and New Market Tax Credits, five year goals and objectives and one year objectives, recommended strategies for implementation and standards for monitoring and evaluation of completed projects. The Affordable Housing Plan shall include a matrix showing the annual and five year housing production goals and objectives and organizations committed to its production. The Affordable Housing Plan shall address expansion of the capacity of the non-profit housing development organizations and identify resources necessary to carry out needed expansion. The Affordable Housing Plan shall identify, based on housing market data standards, city neighborhoods as "stable", "disinvesting", or "gentrifying" and shall make it clear that different housing and affordable housing strategies are being pursued within the different categories of neighborhoods. The Committee shall hold at least three public hearings on the draft Affordable Housing Plan prior to making recommendations to the Mayor and the Council. The Affordable Housing Plan shall serve as the housing component of the Consolidated Plan after review and comment by Committee and submitted for review and approval to the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. The Affordable Housing Plan shall be conveyed by the Mayor to the Council by a resolution every five years in accordance with requirements promulgated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and shall be adopted by the Council with or without amendments. The Affordable Housing Plan shall be reviewed and progress evaluated annually by the Committee and a report sent to the Council.
(3) Priorities and uses of funds. When feasible and practical available, funds in any General Obligation Bond biannual program shall be used for land acquisition for workforce housing projects and subdivisions only in areas designated as Metropolitan Redevelopment Areas, Centers and Corridors, and within 660 feet of an area mapped in Centers and Corridors per the Comprehensive Plan. Funds in any General Obligation Bond biannual program may be used for zero to low interest or, in certain cases, loans that may be forgivable for multi-family rental projects that meet the requirements of the Workforce Housing Opportunity Act and fall within the geographic areas described above. Funds may be used for scattered site, single-family housing purchase, homeownership assistance, rehab, lease-to-own and resale of existing housing stock. The priorities for use of all funds shall be determined by reference to the program elements as shown in § 14-9-5, but in all cases the following requirements shall be met.
(a) Resources shall be allocated according to need in any General Obligation Bond biannual program with the goal that 50% of all resources benefiting families at or below 50% of AMI and 30% of all resources benefiting families at or below 30% AMI. Loans that may be forgivable may be considered for use only in multi-family rental projects benefiting families whose income is at or below 30% AMI. Income Averaging as defined under Section 42 of the IRS Code as authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 is permissible for multi-family rental projects utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits subject to approval by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority.
(b) Not more than 20% of resources shall be used for project related soft development costs as defined by the Affordable Housing Plan.
(c) Workforce housing projects shall be accomplished by city approved builders and developers including an individual; a government housing agency; a for-profit organization, including a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, syndicate or association or a nonprofit organization. Criteria for approval of projects shall be promulgated by the Family and Community Services Department.
(d) Projects receiving funding or land under the Workforce Housing Opportunity Act shall leverage non-city funds by at least a 4:1 ratio (non-city to city resources). The Affordable Housing Plan may make exception to this ratio for certain hard to develop projects as defined in the Affordable Housing Plan and that would otherwise be financially impacted without such an exception. Federal and state funds flowing through the city are not considered city funds for purposes of this requirement.
(e) Any Workforce Housing Trust funds used to benefit an individual or a household directly, such as homeownership assistance or homeowner housing rehabilitation will be subject to recapture or resale provisions at the time of sale or refinancing of the affected property.
(4) Project Priorities. The Committee shall develop a policy-based ranking system so that proposed projects can be prioritized. The system of ranking shall be included in the Affordable Housing Plan. Priority shall be given to financially sound proposals that rank the highest according to the priorities based on guidelines found in the Program Elements. Priority with respect to newly constructed projects shall also be given to proposals that demonstrate a commitment to energy efficiency and utility conservation. The Committee can establish minimum standards below which a project will not be approved. The Department shall issue a standing request for proposals so that developers have adequate time to secure land and formulate proposals for city consideration.
(Ord. 30-2006; Am. Ord. 2012-001; Am. Ord. 2015-001; Am. Ord. 2019-016)