§ 17-132. Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

(1)

There is hereby established the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (the "Trust"). Separate accounts within such Trust may be created from time to time to avoid commingling as required by law or as deemed appropriate to further the purposes of the Trust. Investment earnings, if any, from the moneys on deposit in the Trust shall be retained and shall be used for the purposes provided herein. The Trust shall be separately stated as a special revenue fund in the County's audited financial statements. Copies of such audited financial statements shall be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners as part of the report required by Section 17-135 of this article.

(2)

The Trust shall be administered by a board of trustees, which shall have the authority to govern the Trust Fund consistent with this article and to prescribe procedures for said purpose, subject to necessary approvals by the Board of County Commissioners.

(3)

Monies deposited in the Trust along with any interest earnings on such monies shall be used solely to increase and improve the supply of affordable housing to households in the affordable target income group, including, but not limited to acquisition of property and property rights, cost of construction including costs associated with planning, administration, design, building or installation, as well as any other costs associated with the construction or financing of affordable housing, and reimbursement to the County for such costs if funds were advanced by the County from other sources. To the maximum extent possible, all monies should be used to provide for additional affordable housing and services.

(a)

No more than 10 percent of the monies in the Trust may be used to cover reasonable administrative expenses not reimbursed through processing fees, including reasonable consultant and legal expenses related to the establishment and/or administration of the Trust and reasonable expenses for administering the process of calculating, collecting, and accounting for any deferred County fees authorized by this section. No portion of the Trust may be diverted to other purposes by way of loan or otherwise.

(b)

Monies in the Trust shall be used to construct, acquire, rehabilitate or subsidize affordable housing and/or to assist other governmental entities, private organizations or individuals in the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, reimbursement of County advanced funds, location or subsidy of affordable housing. Monies in the Trust may be disbursed, hypothecated, collateralized or otherwise employed for these purposes from time to time as the Board of County Commissioners determine is appropriate to accomplish the purposes of the Trust. These uses include, but are not limited to, assistance for equity participation loans, grants, pre-home ownership co-investment, pre-development loan funds, participation leases, or other public/private partnership arrangements. The board of trustees established pursuant to Section 17-133 of the Code of Miami-Dade County shall recommend an appropriate annual allocation for the exercise by the County Mayor or the County Mayor's designee of any and all rights of first refusal held by the County or all rights to pay off any senior lenders seeking to foreclose upon or take any other action against an affordable housing dwelling unit, and when the exercise of said rights is for the direct and exclusive purpose of providing affordable housing for those households which are intended to benefit from the Trust. The Trust monies may be expended for the benefit of rental or owner occupied housing.

(c)

A total of 50 percent of the monies deposited in the Trust shall be set-aside for very low income and extremely low income persons or households. The monies set-aside herein for very low income and extremely low income persons or households shall be divided as follows: 60 percent of the monies in the Trust shall be set-aside to assist and meet the housing needs of very low income persons or households and 40 percent of said monies shall be set-aside to assist and meet the housing needs of extremely low income persons or households.

(d)

Except where Federal and State laws or regulations or the Miami-Dade Code mandate to the contrary, monies deposited in the Trust that are used to construct, acquire, rehabilitate or subsidize affordable housing and/or to assist other governmental entities, private organizations or individuals in the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, reimbursement of County advanced funds, location or subsidy of affordable housing shall, whenever feasible, be disbursed in a manner to assure that the housing supply created with these monies is accessible to a range of family whose incomes do not exceed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's published standards for moderate income households, adjusted for family size.

(e)

The affordable rental housing units that are constructed, acquired, rehabilitated or subsidized either by the County or other governmental entities, private organizations or individuals, pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section, shall be offered at affordable rents exclusively to households whose income does not exceed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's published standard for moderate income households, adjusted for family size. Of these affordable units in rental projects, (1) forty percent (40%) of the total units in the project shall be offered at an affordable rent to households whose income does not exceed the published standard for extremely low income and very low income households, adjusted for family size; (2) thirty percent (30%) of the total units in the project shall be offered at an affordable rent to households whose income does not exceed the published standard for low income households, adjusted for family size; and (3) thirty percent (30%) of the total units in the project shall be offered at an affordable rent to households whose income does not exceed the published standard for moderate income households, adjusted for family size. In the event there are insufficient eligible households within an income target range to be offered affordable housing units within a project, then the percentage of the unused units within that target income range shall be added to the next target income range up to an additional ten percent (10%). Any amounts in excess of ten percent (10%) shall be equitably distributed among the remaining households in the remaining target income ranges.

(f)

The affordable housing units in for-sale projects that are constructed, acquired, rehabilitated or subsidized either by the County or other governmental entities, private organizations or individuals, pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section, shall be sold at affordable housing cost for owner occupancy to households whose income does not exceed one hundred and forty percent (140%) of the area median income. Of these affordable units to be sold, (1) twenty percent (20%) of the total units in the project shall be offered at an affordable sales price to households whose income does not exceed the published standard for extremely low income and very low income households, adjusted for family size; (2) thirty percent (30%) of the total units in the project shall be offered at an affordable sales price to households whose income does not exceed the published standard for low income households, adjusted for family size; and (3) fifty percent (50%) of the total units in the project shall be offered at an affordable sales price to households whose income does not exceed the published standard for moderate income households, adjusted for family size. In the event there are insufficient eligible households within an income target range to be offered affordable housing units within a project, then the percentage of the unused units within that target income range shall be added to the next target income range up to an additional ten percent (10%). Any amounts in excess of ten percent (10%) shall be equitably distributed among the remaining households in the remaining target income ranges.

(4)

Funds allocated to Miami-Dade County by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the administration of federally subsidized housing programs, such as the public housing and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher programs, and the Surtax and SHIP program funds and other funds received or budgeted for Miami-Dade County's Local Housing Assistance program and deposited into the Local Housing Assistance Trust Fund established pursuant to Section 17-104 of the Code shall not be deposited into the Trust established herein.

(Ord. No. 07-15, § 1, 2-6-07; Ord. No. 15-112, § 1, 10-6-15; Ord. No. 17-17, § 1, 3-7-17)