GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

S	1 

SENATE BILL 809

Short Title:  Home Start Funds.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Reeves; Clodfelter and Lucas.

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Referred to:  Appropriations/Base Budget.

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April 12, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO INCREASE AND SUSTAIN THE CAPACITY OF NONPROFIT HOUSING ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOMES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency the sum of two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) for the 1999-2000 fiscal year to be allocated to community-based nonprofit affordable housing organizations.  These funds shall be used for direct grants to new and existing community-based nonprofit affordable housing organizations to support operations and project activities, and for administrative and other operational purposes that expand the capacity of such organizations to:
(1)	Support the development of housing affordable to persons of low income;
(2)	Support home ownership through credit counseling and other home buyer education;
(3)	Meet the housing needs of underserved communities by focusing attention and efforts on high-poverty rural areas and distressed urban neighborhoods;
(4)	Provide more appropriate and less costly private housing options and services for the elderly and for persons with special needs who otherwise might be dependent upon public assistance; and
(5)	Increase stability, help deter crime, and make neighborhoods more attractive for further economic and community development through education and community building activities.
Section 2.  The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency shall adopt temporary rules pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.1 within 90 days of the effective date of this act governing the eligibility of applicants, application procedures, eligibility requirements, criteria and standards for awarding grants, and performance standards for continued funding and shall make available to the general public and interested parties adequate opportunity for input into the rule-making process.
Section 3.  The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency shall report every six months to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations on the use of the funds allocated pursuant to this act.  The Agency shall not use these funds for its own administrative purposes.
Section 4.  For purposes of this act, the term "community-based nonprofit affordable housing organization"means nonprofit corporations chartered pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which have as a major purpose the development and improvement of affordable housing opportunities for persons of low income; serves the community in which it is located; is neither controlled by, nor under the direction of, individuals or entities seeking to derive profit or gain from the organization; and maintains accountability to low-income community residents through board membership or other formal processes for input into the organization's housing decision-making process.  For purposes of this act, the term "low-income"refers to persons and families whose incomes do not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the area median family income, with adjustments for family size, according to the latest figures available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  For purposes of this act, the term "very low-income"refers to persons and families whose incomes do not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the area median family income, with adjustments for family size, according to the latest figures available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Section 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1999.