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Leon County
Board of County Commissioners Cover Sheet for Agenda #42 December 14, 2021 |
| To: | Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board |
| From: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
| Title: | First and Only Public Hearing to Consider a Proposed Resolution Adopting Inventory List of County-Owned Properties Appropriate for Affordable Housing |
| Review and Approval: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator Chasity H. O`Steen, County Attorney |
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Department/Division Review and Approval: |
Alan Rosenzweig, Deputy County Administrator Scott Ross, Director, Office of Financial Stewardship Shington Lamy, Director, Office of Human Services & Community Partnerships |
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Lead Staff/ Project Team: |
Kyle Kemper, Assistant County Attorney Kim Vickery, Real Estate Manager Matthew Wyman, Housing Services Manager |
Statement of Issue:
This item requests the Board conduct the first and only Public Hearing to consider a proposed Resolution adopting an inventory list of County-owned properties deemed appropriate for affordable housing in accordance with Florida Statutes.
Fiscal Impact:
This item has no fiscal impact.
Staff Recommendation:
Option #1: Conduct the first and only public hearing and adopt the Resolution adopting the Inventory List of County-Owned Properties Appropriate for Use as Affordable Housing (Attachment #1).
Report and Discussion
Background:
At its November 9, 2021 meeting, the Board approved the scheduling of the first and only Public Hearing to consider a proposed Resolution adopting an inventory list of County-owned properties deemed appropriate for affordable housing in accordance with section 125.379, Florida Statutes (F.S.). This item requests the Board conduct the Public Hearing and adopt the proposed Resolution (Attachment #1).
From time to time real property is conveyed or escheated to the County via the Clerk’s tax deed auction process when property taxes are delinquent, and parcels are not conveyed to a private owner. Section 125.379, Florida Statutes, requires Florida counties to prepare an inventory, no less than every three years, of county-owned real property within their jurisdiction that is appropriate for use as affordable housing and following a public hearing, to adopt a resolution that includes an inventory list of such properties.
The County’s Real Estate Policy No. 16-5 (Real Estate Policy) adopts the statutory requirement by directing the County’s Real Estate staff to present a list of the County’s affordable housing parcels to the Board for review at a public hearing. Although Section 125.379, Florida Statutes, requires Florida counties to prepare an inventory of properties for use as affordable housing for Board adoption by resolution triennially, due to the volume of properties escheated to the county each year, and annual update to the inventory is beneficial for the reasons discussed herein. As a result, County Real Estate staff, and other County Divisions (DSEM, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Housing Services and Community Partnerships) review properties as they are escheated and have prepared annual inventories for Board review.
Upon the Board’s adoption of the Resolution containing the inventory list of affordable housing parcels (the “Affordable Housing List”), the Real Estate Policy provides a streamlined process for the sale of those parcels in accordance with the statutory guidelines. As a result, the County Administrator may direct Real Estate staff to proceed with the private sale or lease of any such affordable housing parcel, requiring no published notice calling for bid subject to appraisal requirements. Real Estate Policy specifies that proceeds from the sale or lease of parcels on the affordable housing list be used for affordable housing purposes Additionally, parcels can be made available to increase the stock of permanent affordable housing, including donation to a nonprofit housing organization or utilized as part of the County’s affordable housing programs. The Board’s annual review of the inventory of real property make parcels and funding for affordable housing projects more readily available.
Analysis:
The Board’s annual adoption of a list of parcels suitable for affordable housing promotes the County’s affordable housing programs including making provision for emergency home repairs and the development of new, affordable homes as well as provides a streamlined process for tax roll re-establishment.
The Board most recently adopted its Affordable Housing List of 60 parcels with the adoption of Resolution 20-32 at a public hearing on September 29, 2020. Of the 60 parcels, half were conveyed by sale or lease pursuant to Real Estate Policy including the donation of four parcels to the Tallahassee Lenders Consortium which is serving as the administrator of the Tallahassee-Leon County Community Land Trust (CLT).
In 2020, the County, City and TLC partnered to establish the CLT to provider greater access to homeownership to low-income households as well as create an inventory of homes that remain affordable in perpetuity. In Summer 2021, the CLT held a groundbreaking event for its first home on one of the donated parcels and expects to sell the home to an eligible, low-income family in early 2022. Additionally, construction of homes on the other three parcels donated to the CLT is scheduled to begin in 2022.
In addition to establishing provisions for the sale or lease of County owned parcels, the Real Estate Policy provides that the Housing Finance Authority of Leon County (HFA) may cooperate with the County in the sale or lease of the County’s affordable housing parcels. In exchange, the net sale proceeds (after deducting the County’s direct costs) are paid to the HFA for affordable housing programs and services. Since 2015, the sale of affordable housing parcels has yielded over $600,000 to the HFA. Currently, revenue received by the HFA is reinvested to support the County’s affordable housing efforts such as the Emergency Home Repair Program, which primarily provides repairs to mobile homes throughout the County. Additionally, the funds are used by the HFA to sponsor County events such as the Annual Home Expo and the County’s 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.
The proposed 2021 Affordable Housing List also includes the parcels remaining from the 2021 list and 10 new parcels that were escheated to the County in 2021. The 40 parcels on the proposed 2021 Affordable Housing List have been split between two exhibits attached to the proposed Resolution, with accompanying maps showing the location of each parcel. Exhibit A of the proposed Resolution provides the parcels that remain from September 2020 Affordable Housing List of which 25 are available for conveyance while 5 will likely be donated to the CLT within the next 12-18 months for the development of housing that will remain affordable.
Exhibit B of the proposed Resolution includes 10 new parcels viewed appropriate by staff for inclusion on the Affordable Housing List. If approved by the Board and upon adoption of the proposed Resolution, these 10 parcels will be available for sale, lease, donation or use as affordable housing.
The Board’s adoption of the 2021 Affordable Housing List will help promote the County’s affordable housing programs and continue to provide a streamlined process for tax roll re-establishment. Additionally, it encourages the ongoing cooperation of the Housing Finance Authority by offering the opportunity to cooperate with the County in selling these affordable housing parcels.
The notice of this public hearing has been appropriately advertised, and a copy of the advertisement request for notice of publication is provided as Attachment #2.
Options:
Recommendation:
Option #1
Attachments: