85R3103 JG-D
	By: Price	H.B. No. 1609

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the system by which an application for a low income
	housing tax credit is scored.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 2306.6710(b), Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(b)  If an application satisfies the threshold criteria, the
	department shall score and rank the application using a point
	system that:
	(1)  prioritizes in descending order criteria
	regarding:
	(A)  financial feasibility of the development
	based on the supporting financial data required in the application
	that will include a project underwriting pro forma from the
	permanent or construction lender;
	(B)  quantifiable community participation with
	respect to the development, evaluated on the basis of a resolution
	concerning the development that is voted on and adopted by the
	following, as applicable:
	(i)  the governing body of a municipality in
	which the proposed development site is to be located;
	(ii)  subject to Subparagraph (iii), the
	commissioners court of a county in which the proposed development
	site is to be located, if the proposed site is to be located in an
	area of a county that is not part of a municipality; or
	(iii)  the commissioners court of a county
	in which the proposed development site is to be located and the
	governing body of the applicable municipality, if the proposed site
	is to be located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a
	municipality;
	(C)  the income levels of tenants of the
	development;
	(D)  the size and quality of the units;
	(E)  the rent levels of the units;
	(F)  the cost of the development by square foot;
	(G)  the services to be provided to tenants of the
	development;
	(H)  whether, at the time the complete application
	is submitted or at any time within the two-year period preceding the
	date of submission, the proposed development site is located in an
	area declared to be a disaster under Section 418.014;
	(I)  quantifiable community participation with
	respect to the development, evaluated on the basis of written
	statements from any neighborhood organizations on record with the
	state or county in which the development is to be located and whose
	boundaries contain the proposed development site; and
	(J)  the level of community support for the
	application, evaluated on the basis of a written statement from the
	state representative who represents the district containing the
	proposed development site if the district contains a portion of a
	county with a population of more than 450,000;
	(2)  uses criteria imposing penalties on applicants or
	affiliates who have requested extensions of department deadlines
	relating to developments supported by housing tax credit
	allocations made in the application round preceding the current
	round or a developer or principal of the applicant that has been
	removed by the lender, equity provider, or limited partners for its
	failure to perform its obligations under the loan documents or
	limited partnership agreement; and
	(3)  encourages applicants to provide free notary
	public service to the residents of the developments for which the
	allocation of housing tax credits is requested.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to an application for low income housing tax credits that is
	submitted to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
	during an application cycle that begins on or after the effective
	date of this Act. An application that is submitted during an
	application cycle that began before the effective date of this Act
	is governed by the law in effect on the date the application cycle
	began, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.