§ 64-K — Peconic Bay region community housing fund

§ 64-k. Peconic Bay region community housing fund. 1. Definitions. As\nused in this section, the following words and terms shall have the\nfollowing meanings:\n (a) "Peconic Bay region" means the towns of East Hampton, Riverhead,\nShelter Island, Southampton, and Southold.\n (b) "Community housing" means a primary residential property for an\neligible individual that does not exceed one hundred fifty percent of\nthe purchase price limits established by the state of New York mortgage\nagency low interest rate loan program in non-target categories for\nSuffolk county in effect on the contract date for the sale of such\nproperty.\n (c) "Board" means the advisory board created pursuant to subdivision\nsix of this section.\n (d) "Fund" means the community housing fund authorized pursuant to\nsubdivision two of this section.\n (e) "First-time homebuyer" means an eligible individual who has not\nowned a primary residential property and is not married to a person who\nhas owned a residential property during the three-year period prior to\nhis or her purchase of the primary residential property, and who does\nnot own a vacation or investment home.\n (f) "Primary residential property" means any one or two family house,\ntownhouse, or condominium.\n (g) "Eligible individual" means a household with an income that does\nnot exceed one hundred percent of the income limits as established by\nthe state of New York mortgage agency low interest rate loan program in\nnon-target categories for Suffolk county in effect on the contract date\nfor the sale of such property.\n 2. Fund authorized. The town board of any town in the Peconic Bay\nregion is authorized to establish by local law a community housing fund,\npursuant to the provisions of this section. Deposits into the fund may\ninclude revenues of the local government from whatever source, including\nbut not limited to: (a) all revenues from the supplemental real estate\ntransfer tax authorized by subdivision two of section fourteen hundred\nforty-nine-bb of the tax law; (b) all proceeds from any indebtedness or\nobligations issued pursuant to the local finance law for community\nhousing opportunity purposes as authorized in subdivision three of this\nsection; (c) general fund balances or surpluses; (d) any proceeds\nreceived by the local government from the sale or rental of community\nhousing produced from revenues of the fund; (e) the repayment of any\nloans issued from proceeds of the fund; (f) any gifts of interests in\nland or funds; and (g) any state or federal grants received by the town\nfor providing affordable homes.\n 3. Purposes of the fund. The proceeds of the fund established pursuant\nto subdivision two of this section shall be utilized for the following\npurposes:\n (a) the provision of financial assistance to first-time homebuyers who\nare residents of the town for the purchase of a first home. Such\nfinancial assistance may be in the form of a grant or a loan.\n (1) A town may provide financial assistance for the purchase of a\nfirst home to a first-time homebuyer who is a resident of the town or\nwho is employed in the town. A resident of the town shall include a\nperson who is currently a resident of the town or a non-resident who has\nbeen a resident within the past five years.\n (2) Such financial assistance shall not exceed fifty percent of the\npurchase price of the home.\n (3) If such financial assistance is in the form of a loan, such loan\nshall be repayable to the town pursuant to the terms agreed to between\nthe recipient and the town, provided that any loan shall be fully repaid\nby the recipient upon the resale of the home.\n (4) For the purposes of calculating town tax liability for such\nproperty, only, the dollar amount of any financial assistance for the\npurchase of a first home made by the town pursuant to this section shall\nbe subtracted from the full equalized assessed value of such property.\n (5) All revenues received by the town from the repayment of a loan\nshall be deposited in the fund.\n (6) A town may provide financial assistance for community housing in\nconjunction with a public/private partnership for employer assisted\nhousing.\n (b) the actual production of community housing for sale to eligible\nindividuals by the town;\n (c) the actual production of community housing for sale to eligible\nindividuals in conjunction with a public/private partnership, where the\nprivate partner agrees to comply with the profit guidelines of the New\nYork state affordable housing corporation and the provisions of this\nsection;\n (d) the actual production and maintenance of community housing for\nrental to eligible individuals either by the town or the town housing\nauthority; or in conjunction with a public/private partnership, where\nthe private partner agrees to comply with the profit guidelines of the\nNew York state affordable housing corporation and the provisions of this\nsection;\n (e) the rehabilitation of existing buildings and structures in the\ntown for the purpose of conversion to community housing for sale or\nrental to eligible individuals;\n (f) the acquisition of interests in real property in existing housing\nunits, which will result in the production of community housing for sale\nor rental to eligible individuals; and\n (g) the provision of housing counseling services by not-for-profit\ncorporations who are authorized by the United States department of\nhousing and urban development to provide such services.\n 4. Fund management. Interest accrued by monies deposited into the fund\nshall be credited to the fund. In no event shall monies deposited into\nthe fund be transferred to any other account. Nothing contained in this\nsection shall be construed to prevent the financing in whole or in part,\npursuant to the local finance law, of any purpose authorized pursuant to\nthis section. Monies from the fund may be utilized to repay indebtedness\nor obligations incurred pursuant to the local finance law consistent\nwith effectuating the purposes of this section.\n 5. Eligible expenses. For the purposes of this section, eligible\nexpenses relating to the production of community housing and the\nrehabilitation of existing buildings and structures under the fund shall\ninclude but not be limited to land acquisition, planning, engineering,\nconstruction costs, and other hard and soft costs directly related to\nthe construction, rehabilitation, purchase or rental of housing pursuant\nto this section. All revenues received by the town from the sale or\nrental of community homes, or the repayment of loans shall be deposited\nin the fund.\n 6. Advisory board established. The town board of any town in the\nPeconic Bay region which has established a community housing fund\npursuant to this section shall create an advisory board to review and\nmake recommendations regarding the town's community housing plan\nrequired by subdivision seven of this section. Such board shall consist\nof not less than seven nor more than fifteen legal residents of the\nmunicipality who shall serve without compensation. No member of the\nlocal legislative body shall serve on the board. The board shall include\na representative of: (a) the construction industry; (b) the real estate\nindustry; (c) the banking industry; and three representatives of local\nhousing advocacy or human services organizations. Where a village or\nvillages, located within the town, have elected to participate in the\nfund, as provided in subdivision seven of this section, the board shall\ninclude at least one resident of a participating village or villages.\nWhere an Indian nation is located within the boundaries of a town, the\nboard shall include at least one member from such nation. The board\nshall act in an advisory capacity to the town board.\n 7. Adoption of housing plan. (a) Before a town in the Peconic Bay\nregion may expend any funds pursuant to this section, the town board\nshall first adopt a town housing plan which establishes an\nimplementation plan for the provision of community housing opportunities\nby the fund. Said plan shall be adopted by local law. Such plan shall\nadhere to the following smart growth principles:\n (1) Public investment. To account for and minimize social, economic,\nand environmental costs of new development, including infrastructure\ncosts such as transportation, sewers, and wastewater treatment, water,\nschools, recreation, and loss of open space and agricultural land;\n (2) Development. To encourage development in areas where\ntransportation, water, and sewage infrastructure are available or\npractical;\n (3) Conservation. To protect, preserve, and enhance the state's\nresources, including agricultural land, forests, surface waters,\ngroundwater, recreation and open space, scenic areas, and significant\nhistoric and archeological sites;\n (4) Coordination. To promote coordination of state and local\ngovernment decisions and cooperation among communities to work toward\nthe most efficient, planned and cost-effective delivery of government\nservices by, among other means, facilitating cooperative agreements\namong adjacent communities, and to coordinate planning to ensure\ncompatibility of one's community development with development of\nneighboring communities;\n (5) Community design. To strengthen communities through development\nand redevelopment strategies that include integration of all income and\nage groups, mixed land uses, and compact development, traditional\nneighborhood development, planned unit development, open space\ndistricts, downtown revitalization, brownfield redevelopment, enhanced\nbeauty in public spaces, and diverse and community housing in close\nproximity to places of employment, recreation, and commercial\ndevelopment;\n (6) Transportation. To provide transportation choices, including\nincreasing public transit and alternative modes of transportation, in\norder to reduce automobile dependency, traffic congestion, and\nautomobile pollution;\n (7) Consistency. To ensure predictability in building and land use\ncodes; and\n (8) Community collaboration. To provide for and encourage local\ngovernments to develop, through a collaborative community-based effort,\nsmart growth plans that include long term land use and permit\npredictability and coordination, efficient decision making and planning\nimplementation.\n (b) Such plan may include the establishment of a map or maps that\ndelineate the housing implementation recommendations proposed by the\ntown.\n (c) Such plan shall be updated at least once every five years.\n (d) The town housing plan shall be an element of the town's\ncomprehensive plan.\n (e) Such plan shall ensure that all community housing created pursuant\nto this section remains affordable. Subsequent purchasers of such\ncommunity housing shall have at the time of purchase, pursuant to the\ndefinition "eligible individual", an income that does not exceed one\nhundred percent of the income limits as established by the state of New\nYork mortgage agency low interest rate loan program in non-target\ncategories for Suffolk county.\n (f) Such plan shall provide for the equitable distribution of\ncommunity housing opportunities among all the communities of the town.\nThe plan shall ensure that no community has an undue concentration of\ncommunity housing opportunities that would substantially alter the\ncharacter of the community. In determining equitable distribution of\ncommunity housing opportunities, existing community housing\nopportunities in a community shall be considered.\n 8. Village participation. (a) The participation of any village in the\nproduction of community housing authorized by this section shall be at\nthe option of the village. In order to participate, a village shall pass\na resolution opting into the program and shall submit said resolution to\nthe town board.\n (b) Where a village opts to participate pursuant to this subdivision,\nan intergovernmental agreement shall be executed pursuant to article\nfive-G of the general municipal law or other applicable legal authority,\nin order to establish the rights and responsibilities of each government\nregarding community housing opportunities.\n (c) Regardless of whether a village participates in the program\nauthorized by this section, properties in the village shall be subject\nto the supplemental real estate transfer tax authorized by subdivision\ntwo of section fourteen hundred forty-nine-bb of the tax law.\n