H. B. 4359
(By Delegates Leach, Michael,
Perdue and Susman)
[Introduced February 9, 2004; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §31-18D-5, §31-18D-6, §31-18D-7 and
§31-18D-9 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all
relating to reducing the number of directors of the
affordable
housing trust fund from eleven to nine members; deleting
certain members appointed from nonprofit organizations and the
executive director of a public housing authority from board
membership; adding members appointed to the board
from the
real estate and manufactured housing sectors; reducing the
quorum and majority vote requirements; providing for the
appointment of an advisory board; providing start-up funds for
initial operational expenses of local government programs;
and, eliminating certain restrictions on application
procedures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §31-18D-5, §31-18D-6, §31-18D-7 and §31-18D-9 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 18D. WEST VIRGINIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND.
§31-18D-5. Housing trust fund board of directors.
(a) The affordable housing trust fund has a board of
directors, which consists of eleven nine voting members. The
members of the board are responsible for administering the trust
fund.
(b) The trust fund board of directors consists of:
(1) The secretary of the department of health and human
resources, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(2) The executive director of the West Virginia development
office, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(3) The executive director of the West Virginia housing
development fund, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(4) One member who is chosen from the private directors
appointed by the governor to the board of the West Virginia housing
development fund;
(5) (4) One member who is an officer of a corporation or
member of a limited liability company, which is currently licensed
to do business in West Virginia and is engaged in residential real
estate construction or development, or his or her designee;
(6) Three members who are executive directors or officers of
not-for-profit organizations, which are not affiliated with one another through common management control and which are currently
licensed to do business in West Virginia and which have been
recognized as exempt from federal income tax under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in 26
U.S.C. §501 (c) (3), and are organized and operated exclusively for
charitable purposes within the meaning of that section, and in
accordance with those purposes, provide housing assistance to low
or moderate income citizens of this state;
(7) (5) One member representative of the banking industry, or
his or her designee;
(8) (6) One citizen member; who is representative of the
population served by the trust fund
(7) One member who is a real estate broker licensed in West
Virginia, or his or her designee;
(8) One member representative of the manufactured housing
sales industry, or his or her designee; and
(9) One member who is an executive director of a public
housing authority operating in a county or municipality in this
state.
(9) One at-large member who is a member of the advisory
committee as provided in subsection (e), section six of this
article, or his or her designee.
(c) Not more than three members, excluding the ex officio
members, shall be appointed from any one congressional district. Not more than four three of the members, excluding the ex officio
members, may belong to the same political party. Except for
initial appointments and midterm special appointments made to fill
irregular vacancies on the board, members shall be appointed for
terms of three years each. Initial appointments shall consist of
three two members whose terms expire after two years, three and two
members whose terms expire after three years and two members whose
terms expire after four years. Members are eligible for
reappointment. However, no member may serve for more than two
consecutive full terms. Except for midterm special appointments
made to fill irregular vacancies on the board, appointment terms
shall begin on the first day of July of the beginning year. All
appointment terms, special and regular, end on the thirtieth day of
June of the final year of the term.
(d) All members of the board except those who serve ex officio
shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of
the Senate.
(e) The governor may remove any appointed member in case of
incompetency incompetence, neglect of duty, moral turpitude or
malfeasance in office, and the governor may declare the office
vacant and fill the vacancy as provided in other cases of vacancy.
(f) The governor shall designate one of the initial members as
chairperson of the board. During or after the first meeting of the
board, the board may select a new chairperson and shall annually select its chairperson.
(g) The board shall meet not less than four times during the
fiscal year, and additional meetings may be held upon a call of the
chairperson or of a majority of the members. Board members shall
be reimbursed for sums necessary to carry out responsibilities of
the board and for reasonable travel expenses to attend board
meetings. The ex officio members may not be reimbursed by the fund
for travel expenses to attend board meetings.
(h) Six Five members of the board is a quorum. No vacancy in
the membership of the board impairs the right of a quorum to
exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the board.
No action may be taken by the board except upon the affirmative
vote of at least six of the members a simple majority of the
members present.
§31-18D-6. Powers and responsibilities of the board.
(a) It is the duty of the board to manage and control the
affordable housing trust fund. In order to carry out the
day-to-day management and control of the trust fund and effectuate
the purposes of this article, the board may appoint an executive
director and other staff. The board shall fix the executive
director's duties and compensation as well as that of other staff.
The executive director and other staff serve at the will and
pleasure of the board. The board may provide for staff payroll and
employee benefits in the same manner as the West Virginia housing development fund provides for its employees.
(b) The members of the board and its officers are not liable
personally, either jointly or severally, for any debt or obligation
created by the board.
(c) Members of the board and its officers and employees shall
be provided insurance coverage by the state's risk and insurance
management board to the same extent and in the same manner the
coverage is applicable to state government agencies and appointed
state officials and employees. The board may elect to obtain other
forms of insurance coverage it considers reasonable for its
operations.
(d) The acts of the board are solely acts of its corporation
and are not those of an agent of the state, nor is any debt or
obligation of the board a debt or obligation of the state.
(e) The board shall:
(1) Appoint an advisory committee of at least five members
that shall advise the board on general policies for allocating and
distributing funds, application criteria, housing needs or issues
facing the state, or other items as designated by the board. This
committee shall include: (i) A member who is an executive director
or officer of a not-for-profit organization that is not affiliated
through common management control and that is currently licensed to
do business in West Virginia and has been recognized as exempt from
federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in 25 U.S.C. §501(c)(3), and is
organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes within
the meaning of that section and in accordance with those purposes,
providing housing assistance to low or moderate income citizens of
this state; (ii) a member who is an executive director of a public
housing authority operating in a county or municipality in this
state; (iii) a member of municipal government or county-level
government; (iv) a member of a local HOME consortia within the
state; and (v) a member who is an executive director or other
officer of a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) as
defined in 24 CFR Part 92.
(1) (2) Develop and implement comprehensive policies and
programs for the use of the trust fund that ensures the equitable
distribution of moneys from the trust fund throughout the various
geographic areas of this state and between urban and rural areas of
this state;
(2) (3) Develop and implement an application and selection
system to identify housing sponsors or providers of affordable
housing developments or programs that qualify to receive assistance
from the trust fund for eligible activities and publish the same at
least annually;
(3) (4) Provide funds for technical assistance to prospective
applicants;
(4) (5) Monitor services, developments, projects or programs receiving assistance from the trust fund to ensure that the
developments are operated in a manner consistent with this article
and in accordance with the representations made to the trust fund
board by the sponsors of the services, developments, projects or
programs;
(5) (6) Recommend legislation to further its mission of
providing housing for low to moderate income citizens of this
state;
(6) (7) Provide funding to increase the capacity of nonprofit
community housing organizations to serve their communities;
(7) (8) Research and study housing needs and potential
solutions to the substandard quality or lack of affordable housing;
(8) (9) Coordinate programs with other entities when doing so
fulfills its mission to provide housing to low to moderate income
citizens of this state;
(9) (10) Convene public meetings to gather information or
receive public comments regarding housing policy or issues;
(10) (11) Distribute available funds pursuant to policies
established by it which may permit the establishment of a permanent
endowment; and
(11) (12) Serve as a clearinghouse for information regarding
housing services and providers within this state.
(f) The West Virginia housing development fund shall provide
office space and staff support services for the executive director and the board, shall act as fiscal agent for the board and, as
such, shall provide accounting services for the board, invest all
funds as directed by the board, service all investment and loan
activities of the board as requested, and shall make the
disbursements of all funds as directed by the board, for which the
West Virginia housing development fund shall be reasonably
compensated, as determined by the board.
§31-18D-7. Eligible activities; eligible organizations.
(a) The board shall use the moneys from the trust fund to
make, or participate in the making, of loans or grants for eligible
activities that shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Providing funds for new construction, rehabilitation,
repair or acquisition of housing to assist low or moderate income
citizens including land and land improvements;
(2) Providing matching funds for federal housing moneys
requiring a local or state match;
(3) Providing funds for administrative costs for housing
assistance programs or nonprofit organizations eligible for funding
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section if the grants or loans
provided will substantially increase the recipient's access to
housing funds or increase its capacity to supply affordable
housing;
(4) Providing loan guarantees and other financial mechanisms
to facilitate the provision of housing products or services;
(5) Providing funds for down payments, closing costs,
foreclosure prevention, home ownership counseling and security
bonds which facilitate the construction, rehabilitation, repair or
acquisition of housing by low to moderate income citizens; and
(6) Providing risk underwriting products not provided by
private sector entities to facilitate broader accessibility of
citizens to other federal or state housing funds or loan programs.
The products shall be established using professional risk
underwriting standards and separate corporate vehicles may be
created and capitalized by the trust fund to provide the products;
and
(7) Providing start-up funds for initial operational expenses
of local government programs to reduce substandard housing or
inappropriate land use patterns.
(b) Organizations eligible for funding from the trust fund
include the following: (1) Local governments; (2) local government
housing authorities; (3) nonprofit organizations recognized as
exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in 26 U.S.C. §501 (c)
(3), and which are organized and operated exclusively for
charitable purposes within the meaning of that section, and in
accordance with those purposes provide assistance to low or
moderate income citizens of this state; and (4) regional or
statewide housing assistance organizations that have been recognized as exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code, as amended, and which provide assistance to low and
moderate income or low income citizens of this state.
§31-18D-9.
Funding restrictions.
(a) The board shall announce by public notice at least two
periods annually for prospective applicants to submit proposals,
applications or requests for funding. Each period shall be for at
least ninety days duration during each calendar year in which funds
are available from the trust fund. The board shall approve or deny
properly submitted and completed applications, proposals or
requests within sixty days of their receipt.
(b) The board shall determine whether each person making an
application, proposal or request for funding is an eligible entity
and approve as many applications, proposals or requests as will
effectively use the available moneys in the trust fund less costs
required to administer the program. In selecting entities to
receive trust fund assistance, the board shall develop a qualified
allocation and selection plan as often as it considers appropriate
in order to provide affordable housing and improve the capacity of
nonprofit housing entities to supply affordable housing to low and
moderate income citizens of this state. The allocation and
selection plan for each period shall be available for review of
prospective applicants and the general public in sufficient time
for prospective applicants to reasonably prepare an application, project proposal or request for funding.
(c) (a) No moneys may be expended from the trust fund for
projects that discriminate against any buyer or renter because of
race, religion, sex, familial status or national origin.
(d) (b) The board shall forward to the West Virginia housing
development fund for its review and information approved requests,
applications and proposals for funding containing information as is
necessary to permit the West Virginia housing development fund to
carry out its duties under this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reorganize the
Affordable Housing Trust Fund, reduce the number of members and
reduce the quorum required for business. The bill also provides
for the appointment of an advisory board and start-up funds for
initial operational expenses of local government programs. In
addition, the bill
eliminates certain restrictions on application
procedures
.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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