Agenda Item Name:
Title
Inclusionary Housing Study Scope and Proposal from Florida Housing Coalition
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Presenter:
Ivy Bell, Senior Planner
Description:
Request for Board direction on whether to move forward with an Inclusionary Housing Study process based on the proposal provided by Florida Housing Coalition, including authorization for funding the Study.
At its September 6, 2022 meeting, the Board directed staff to work with the Florida Housing Coalition to develop a Scope of Work for an Inclusionary Housing study, and also to provide additional detail on the City of Tallahassee and Leon County’s inclusionary housing programs. The Florida Housing Coalition has provided the attached Scope of Work and cost proposal in the amount of $50,000 which would cover all work necessary to assist staff in developing an implementable inclusionary housing program ordinance for Alachua County, including the technical analysis needed to ensure compliance with the requirements of Section 125.01055, Florida Statutes.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Provide direction to staff - if the Board wishes to move forward with the Inclusionary Housing Study in accordance with the proposal for consultant assistance provided by the Florida Housing Coalition then approval of the scope of work and proposal as well as the budget amendment is requested.
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Prior Board Motions:
September 6, 2022:
1. Refer to staff to bring back details of the City of Tallahassee and Leon County inclusionary housing policy.
2. Ask staff to work with the Florida Housing Coalition and develop a scope of work to bring back to the Board to review for a feasibility study in Alachua County with a specific focus on 50% AMI and 30% AMI which is extremely low and very low.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
The cost to conduct the Inclusionary Housing Study and related implementation tasks would be $50,000 pursuant to the attached proposal provided by the Florida Housing Coalition. If the Board wants to move forward with the Inclusionary Housing Study, the Board will need to approve the attached budget amendment utilizing reserves with the understanding that it will be reimbursed from American Rescue Plan State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (ARPA) - Revenue Recovery.
001.04.0490.554.34.00 - $50,000
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Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
Housing
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Background:
Inclusionary housing is a local land use policy that is intended to increase the stock of affordable housing in the community by requiring and/or incentivizing housing developers to include residential units that are affordable to households of specified income levels as part of new residential developments.
A mandatory inclusionary housing program would typically require a housing developer to designate a certain percentage of the total housing units in a development as affordable to certain income levels, or to pay a fee in lieu of constructing the affordable units. The local government is required to provide incentives to fully offset all costs to the housing developer for providing such affordable housing units pursuant to Florida Statute Section 125.01055.
If the Board wishes to proceed with establishing an inclusionary housing policy for Alachua County, the first step would be to conduct a Study. The Study is necessary to provide a data-based foundation for an inclusionary housing policy and to ensure that it complies with the technical requirements of Section 125.01055, Florida Statutes. Specifically, the Study would examine how various combinations of inclusionary housing requirements and incentives will impact the continued viability of the local housing market. It would help determine optimal levels for inclusionary requirements that can be accommodated comfortably in the local market given the costs, revenues and incentives available locally. More specifically, this would involve determining the costs to the developer for providing the affordable units and the value of the potential incentives offered by the County to offset those costs.
An inclusionary housing feasibility study would also involve consideration of various program design options including:
• Mandatory vs. voluntary participation
• Countywide or specific geographic areas
• Development size threshold and/or type that activates requirements
• Percentage of housing units required to be affordable
• Target income levels for affordability
• Design characteristics and location of affordable units within development
• Control period (how long housing units must remain affordable)
• What incentives are offered to offset cost to developer
• Option for fee in lieu of construction of affordable units
• Administrative process for implementation
County staff has had several discussions with Florida Housing Coalition (FHC) staff about working with the County on an inclusionary housing study and program. FHC has worked with multiple Florida local governments on inclusionary housing, including current work with the City of Tallahassee/Leon County on updates to their respective inclusionary housing programs. FHC has provided the County with a Proposal and Scope of Work for developing an implementable Inclusionary Housing ordinance for Alachua County. The proposal includes: an analysis of the County’s affordable housing needs; analysis of the potential effectiveness of an inclusionary housing policy in addressing the County’s affordable housing needs; financial modeling and calculation of the value of potential incentives offered by the County to offset the costs to the developer of providing affordable housing units (as required by Florida Statutes); community and stakeholder engagement; and guidance and training of County staff on implementation. The cost of FHC’s services as provided in the proposal/scope would be $50,000. Funding for this purpose is not currently allocated.
If the Board decides to move forward with the Inclusionary Housing Study process, County staff anticipates returning to the Board at several milestone points to provide progress updates and seek further policy direction from the Board where needed.