| (a) The state's ceiling shall be determined for each
calendar year by the executive director based upon the most recent
census estimate of the resident population of the state published
by the Bureau of the Census prior to the beginning of such calendar
year. The amount of the state ceiling shall be published on the board's
website in January each year and shall be updated on the site at least
weekly thereafter.
(b) On or after October 5 of the year preceding the
applicable program year, the board will accept applications for reservation
from issuers authorized to issue private activity bonds. The board
shall not grant a reservation to any issuer prior to January 2 of
the program year. If two or more issuers file an application for reservation
of the state ceiling in any of the categories described in Government
Code §1372.022, the board shall conduct a lottery establishing
the priority order of each such application for reservation. Once
the priority order for all applications for reservation filed on or
before October 20 of the year preceding the applicable program year
is established, except as provided by Government Code §1372.031(b)
and subject to Government Code §1372.0321 and Government Code §1372.0231,
reservations for each issuer within the categories described in Government
Code §1372.022(a)(2), (3), (4), and (5) shall be granted in the
order of priority established by such lottery. If determined by staff
as necessary an additional lottery may be held immediately to stagger
reservation dates for such issuers; otherwise, reservations shall
be staggered by priority and then lot number. Each issuer of state
voted issues granted a reservation initially may participate in the
additional lottery or shall be granted a reservation date which is
the first business day of the program year.
(c) The order of priority for reservations by housing
finance corporations in the category described in Government Code §1372.022(a)(1),
shall further be determined as provided in Government Code §1372.032.
(1) The first category of priority shall include those
applications for a reservation filed by housing finance corporations
which filed an application for a reservation on behalf of the same
local population prior to September 1 of the previous calendar year,
but which did not receive a reservation during such year. Any such
priority of an issuer composed of more than one jurisdiction is not
affected by the issuer's loss of a sponsoring government unit and
that unit's population base if the dollar amount of the application
has not increased.
(2) The second category of priority shall include those
applications for a reservation not included in the first category
of priority.
(3) Within each category of priority, reservations
shall be granted in reverse calendar year order of the most recent
closing of qualified mortgage bonds by each housing finance corporation,
with the most recent closing being the last to receive a reservation
and with those housing finance corporations that have never received
a reservation for mortgage revenue bonds being the first to receive
a reservation, and, in the case of closings occurring on the same
date, reservations shall be granted in an order determined by the
board by lot. The most recent closing applicable to:
(A) a newly created housing finance corporation that
was created by a local government unit or local government units that
had previously sponsored an existing housing finance corporation or
a disbanded housing finance corporation, is the most recent closing
of qualified mortgage bonds the proceeds of which were available to
the population of the housing finance corporation;
(B) a housing finance corporation sponsored by a local
government unit that has participated in the program of another housing
finance corporation, is the most recent closing of qualified mortgage
bonds the proceeds of which were available to the population of the
housing finance corporation; and
(C) all other housing finance corporations, is the
most recent closing of qualified mortgage bonds by the housing finance
corporation. In no event will a housing finance corporation or its
sponsoring local government unit be allowed to achieve an advantage
in the determination of its last closing date by creating, dissolving,
or withdrawing from a housing finance corporation.
(d) The order of priority for reservations in the category
described in Government Code §1372.022(a)(4) shall further be
determined as provided in Government Code §1372.0321 and Government
Code §1372.0231.
(1) The first category of priority shall include those
applications for a reservation for projects that:
(A) during the four-year period preceding the date
of the application, have:
(i) filed an application for a low-income housing tax
credit with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs;
and
(ii) closed on a previous reservation of bonds in accordance
with Government Code §1372.042, as determined based on the date
of allocation of those bonds; and
(B) require a subsequent issuance of bonds to maintain
compliance with the percentage requirement described in Government
Code §1372.0321(e); and
(C) have not previously applied for a subsequent issuance
of bonds under Government Code §1372.0321(a).
(2) The second category of priority shall include those
applications for a reservation for:
(A) projects:
(i) in which 50% of the units are reserved for families
and individuals earning not more than 50% of the area median family
income and in which the maximum allowable rents are restricted to
30% of 50% of area median family income, minus an allowance for utility
costs authorized under the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program;
and
(ii) the remaining 50% of the residential units in
the project are reserved for families and individuals earning not
more than 60% of the area median family income and in which the maximum
allowable rents are restricted to 30% of 60% of area median family
income, minus an allowance for utility costs authorized under the
federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program; or
(B) projects:
(i) in which 15% of the residential units in the project
are reserved for families and individuals earning not more than 30%
of the area median family income and in which the maximum allowable
rents are restricted to 30% of 30% of area median family income, minus
an allowance for utility costs authorized under the federal Low Income
Housing Tax Credit Program; and
(ii) the remaining 85% of the residential units in
the project are reserved for families and individuals earning not
more than 60% of the area median family income and in which the maximum
allowable rents are restricted to 30% of 60% of area median family
income, minus an allowance for utility costs authorized under the
federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program; or
(C) projects:
(i) in which 100% of the residential units in the project
are reserved for families and individuals earning not more than 60%
of the area median family income and in which the maximum allowable
rents are restricted to 30% of 60% of area median family income, minus
an allowance for utility costs authorized under the federal Low Income
Housing Tax Credit Program; and
(ii) which are located in a census tract in which the
median income, based on the most recent information published by the
United States Bureau of the Census, is higher than the median income
for the county, metropolitan statistical area, or primary metropolitan
statistical area in which the census tract is located as established
by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;
or
(D) on June 1 and after, projects that were submitted
for the lottery, and are located in counties, metropolitan statistical
areas, or primary metropolitan statistical areas with area median
family income levels below or at the median family income for the
state according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(3) The third category of priority shall include those
applications for a reservation for a project in which at least 80%
of the units are reserved for families and individuals earning not
more than 60% of the area median family income and in which the maximum
allowable rents are restricted to 30% of 60% of area median family
income, minus an allowance for utility costs authorized under the
federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program.
(4) The fourth category of priority shall include those
applications for any other qualified residential rental project.
(5) Within each category of priority, reservations
shall be granted in the order established by the lottery subject to
Government Code §1372.0231.
(6) Owners of Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)
and 501(c)(3) properties that issue through State agencies are prohibited
from having policies, procedures and/or screening practices which
have the effect of excluding applicants because they have Section
8 voucher or certificate. The verification of such an exclusionary
practice on the part of the owner or manager by a state agency will
be considered a violation and may result in the owner's inability
to participate in future housing programs of the state.
(7) When determining the priority level of an application
established under Government Code §1372.0321, the applicant shall
use the most current data available on October 1 of the year preceding
the program year in which allocation is being sought, unless specifically
otherwise provided in federal or state law or in this title. All American
Community Survey (ACS) data must be five year estimates, and any reference
to median income in this title shall be synonymous with median family
income unless otherwise specified.
(e) The order of priority for reservations in the category
described in Government Code §1372.022(a)(5), shall further be
determined as provided in Government Code §1372.033.
(f) If state ceiling becomes available on August 15,
it shall be available for all applications for reservations in the
order determined by the board by lot. If all applications have been
offered a portion of the available state ceiling then the board shall
grant reservations in the order in which the applications are received.
(g) All applications for a reservation filed after
October 20 of the preceding year by any issuer for the issuance of
bonds shall be accepted by the board in their order of receipt.
(h) An application for a reservation for the current
program year may not be submitted and a reservation may not be granted
after November 15 of the program year.
(i) An issuer may refuse to accept a reservation if
the amount of state ceiling available is less than the amount for
which the issuer applied or for any amount if the reservation is granted
after September 23 of the program year.
(j) The amount of the state's ceiling that has not
been reserved prior to November 16 of the program year and any amount
previously reserved that becomes available on or after that date because
of the cancellation of a reservation or any other reason, may be designated,
by the board, as traditional carryforward for the carryforward purposes
outlined in the Code through submission of the application for carryforward
and any other required documentation. If the 150-day, 180-day, or
210-day period, as applicable, expires on or after December 24th of
a program year in which a reservation was issued, an issuer is required
to close on its bonds before December 24th. However, if an issuer's
applicable period expires after December 31st, the issuer must notify
the board in writing before December 24th of their intent to request
non-traditional carryforward designation of the reservation and with
their expected bond closing date. The granting by the board of a non-traditional
carryforward designation through this described process, will allow
an issuer the remaining balance of their 150-day, 180-day, or 210-day
period, as applicable, to close on their bond by the expected closing
date. If any issuer makes this election and does not close the bonds
on or before the expected closing date, the amount of non-traditional
carryforward designation will be administered by the board in compliance
with the requirements of the Code.
(k) An issuer may submit an application for carryforward
to the board at any time during the year before December 24th.
(l) Issuers will be eligible for carryforward according
to the priority classifications listed in the Act, specifically Government
Code §1372.062.
(m) With respect to the amount of the state ceiling
set aside under Government Code §1372.0231(a)(1) and (3), applications
are subject to review and approval by board staff prior to receiving
a certificate of allocation.
(n) With respect to the time period and amount of the
state ceiling set aside under Government Code §1372.0231(a)(1),
should the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA)
opt to participate in the lottery, TDHCA shall submit residential
rental project applications to the board during the application period
outlined in Government Code §1372.028. The board shall include
a number of lottery balls in the lottery on behalf of TDHCA equal
to the number of applications TDHCA submits that are eligible for
participation in the lottery. Prior to the date of the lottery, TDHCA
will rank its eligible applications according to the provisions established
by TDHCA and shall provide this ranking to the board. After the lottery,
the board will assign the lottery numbers drawn on behalf of TDHCA
to TDHCA's eligible applications based upon the rank provided by TDHCA,
with the lowest Cont'd... |
