Minutes - 04-04-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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property from the affordable housing inventory, the equity obtained from selling the property must be shared with the County 5a-5a. She made reference to a letter from EmP~WERment stating that the equity sharing should be based on a proportionate share model. On page eight, there is a comparison of doing 5o-5a equity sharing versus a proportionate share model. Chair Carey clarified that the only real distinction between EmP~WERment's proposal and the County's proposal is in who purchases the property. In EmP~WERment's proposal, it does not make a difference who purchases the property, the equity will be proportionate based on the relative contributions of the owner and the County. Commissioner Gordon said that the County would get no interest money for the $3a,aa0 contributed to the loan. She said that $30,aoa was a lot of money to not have any interest money. Also, she said that it was very likely that if a home was sold to anon-qualified buyer, the price would be higher which would make the equity higher. She has a problem with letting a home go non-affordable and sharing the equity proportionately. She said that this was a tremendous taxpayer investment. Myles Presler from EmP~WERment said that he supports Chair Carey's proposal. He said that EmPOWERment's concern about the recommendation was based on the understanding that if the home was sold at all, that 5a% of the appreciation had to be split with the County. He said that EmPUWERment would encourage the County to modify the proposal such that regardless of whether the home is sold to an income-eligible family, that each family has to repay the public investment plus a proportionate share of the appreciation that is built on the property during the tenure of ownership. He apologized for the statement because it was based on a misunderstanding. Commissioner Brown made reference to the Land Trust model and asked what would happen if the land trust went out of business or no longer functioned. County Attorney Geoffrey Gledhill said that when the community land trust that exists now was created, the articles of incorporation called for the property in the event of dissolution of the corporation to go to another non-profit corporation. He has reviewed the documentation and recommended that the articles of incorporation be amended to provide that, upon dissolution, all of the assets would go to a similar purpose non-profit corporation. Commissioner Brown would like to talk about the land trust soon. Jahn Link said that the staff still strongly recommends their proposal on equity sharing because the main intent is to keep the unit affordable. A motion was made by Commissioner Brown, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve the Long Term Housing Affordability Policy. Commissioner Jacobs asked if Mr. Dowling, from the Grange Community Housing Corporation, had anything to add to this discussion. Mr. Dowling said that he feels that the County's proposal is fair. He said that the proposal would entice the seller to sell the unit to an income-qualified buyer. Commissioner Jacobs asked if there was any mechanism for helping someone who is selling the property to identify a buyer who is qualified. Tara Fikes said that through the right of first refusal, that would give the information that the property is available for the market and anon-profit or the County could purchase it. She said that mast of the non-profit organizations that are involved in first-time homeownership programs have a list of organizations that are involved in affordable housing. Commissioner Gordon clarified that the period of affordability was 99 years for the land trust model and for the new and existing first-time homebuyer programs. She thinks the Board should revisit the impact fee reimbursement issue because in the owner-occupied housing, it is only affordable for 2a years. Tara Fikes said that the section on impact fee reimbursement could be amended to say that the period of affordability would be 99 years. Commissioner Gordon asked about the return on investment when the property changed hands if the equity was unusually high. John Link said that if the property is sold to a qualified buyer then the unit is retained as affordable and the equity is still going to be fairly low. Geoff Gledhill said that the objective was to keep the housing affordable, and if the marketplace will do it, then the County does not have to. Commissioner Brown would like to include in the motion that the 2a-year period of affordability in the impact fee reimbursement would be changed to 99 years. She feels that the County should come up with a revolving fund to go along with this program. She would like the staff to came back with recommendations for a revolving fund at the housing work session. Commissioner Gordon suggested including in the motion that this program would be evaluated within two years with a report of all of the transactions that take place.