Bill Text: HI HB2444 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended

---

Bill Title: Relating To Housing.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 25-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-03-23 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC/WAM. [HB2444 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-HB2444-Amended.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2444
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO HOUSING.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the need for more affordable housing in Hawaii affects all segments of society.  Nonetheless, the counties have delayed action on public infrastructure improvements that have been developed as part of affordable housing projects developed by the State, including the Villages of Kapolei master planned community.

     The legislature also finds that in the late 1980s, the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation's predecessor, the housing finance and development corporation, began as the master developer of the development of the eight hundred eighty-eight-acre Villages of Kapolei in the Ewa Plain for a planned, four thousand four hundred-unit residential community.  The housing finance and development corporation also developed major infrastructure for the Villages of Kapolei under Act 15, Session Laws of Hawaii 1988, which exempted various zoning and subdivision laws to expedite affordable housing.

     The legislature further finds that while the city and county of Honolulu has collected real property tax revenues from the Villages of Kapolei for the past thirty years, the city has still not accepted dedication of the infrastructure improvements.  As a result, the State, through the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation, has had to pay for related maintenance and improvements, averaging more than $1,000,000 per year.  These expenses are paid for with moneys from the dwelling unit revolving fund instead of real property tax revenues collected by the city and county of Honolulu, which comes at an opportunity cost of funding infrastructure for new affordable housing development throughout the State.

     The purpose of this Act is to condition the authority of a county whose population is greater than five hundred thousand to exercise the same state housing powers as those granted to the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation on a finding that the county has fulfilled its duty to accept dedication of public infrastructure constructed in accordance with all relevant codes and ordinances at the time of commencement of construction.

     SECTION 2.  Section 46-15.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any county shall have and may exercise the same powers, subject to applicable limitations, as those granted the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation pursuant to chapter 201H insofar as those powers may be reasonably construed to be exercisable by a county for the purpose of developing, constructing, and providing low- and moderate-income housing; provided that no county shall be empowered to cause the State to issue general obligation bonds to finance a project pursuant to this section; provided further that county projects shall be granted an exemption from general excise or receipts taxes in the same manner as projects of the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation pursuant to section 201H-36; [and] provided further that section 201H-16 shall not apply to this section unless federal guidelines specifically provide local governments with that authorization and the authorization does not conflict with any state laws[.]; provided further that the authority of a county whose population is greater than five hundred thousand to exercise these powers shall be contingent upon the county's continued compliance with sections 46-15.25 and 264-1(c)(1), with respect to accepting the dedication of infrastructure and public highways in affordable housing developments, as determined by the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation.  The powers shall include the power, subject to applicable limitations, to:

     (1)  Develop and construct dwelling units, alone or in partnership with developers;

     (2)  Acquire necessary land by lease, purchase, exchange, or eminent domain;

     (3)  Provide assistance and aid to a public agency or other person in developing and constructing new housing and rehabilitating existing housing for elders of low- and moderate-income, other persons of low- and moderate-income, and persons displaced by any governmental action, by making long-term mortgage or interim construction loans available;

     (4)  Contract with any eligible bidders to provide for construction of urgently needed housing for persons of low- and moderate-income;

     (5)  Guarantee the top twenty-five per cent of the principal balance of real property mortgage loans, plus interest thereon, made to qualified borrowers by qualified lenders;

     (6)  Enter into mortgage guarantee agreements with appropriate officials of any agency or instrumentality of the United States to induce those officials to commit to insure or to insure mortgages under the National Housing Act, as amended;

     (7)  Make a direct loan to any qualified buyer for the downpayment required by a private lender to be made by the borrower as a condition of obtaining a loan from the private lender in the purchase of residential property;

     (8)  Provide funds for a share, not to exceed fifty per cent, of the principal amount of a loan made to a qualified borrower by a private lender who is unable otherwise to lend the borrower sufficient funds at reasonable rates in the purchase of residential property; and

     (9)  Sell or lease completed dwelling units.

     For purposes of this section, a limitation is applicable to the extent that it may reasonably be construed to apply to a county."

     SECTION 3.  Section 46-15.25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§46-15.25  Infrastructure dedication; affordable housing.  (a)  Infrastructure for a development that primarily consists of affordable housing at the time that construction commences shall be deemed dedicated to the county if the county does not accept or reject the request for dedication of infrastructure within sixty days of the receipt by the appropriate county council of a completed application for dedication request[;].  Requests for dedication of infrastructure shall be accepted; provided that:

     (1)  Applicable meter and connection fees and utility costs relating to the dedicated infrastructure have been paid;

     (2)  The dedicated infrastructure [conforms to applicable county standards in effect at the time of construction;] does not contravene health or safety standards, as determined by the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation; and

     (3)  The completion of the improvements comprising a dedicated infrastructure is granted approval by the county[.] or a third-party reviewer.

     (b)  For the purposes of this section:

     "Affordable housing" means housing that is affordable to households with incomes at or below one hundred forty per cent of the median family income as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

     "Infrastructure" includes water, drainage, sewer, waste disposal and waste treatment systems, road, road landscaping, and street lighting that connect to the infrastructure of the county.

     "Third party reviewer" means an entity with the appropriate licenses, specialized knowledge, and experience that has been examined and registered by the county to perform plan reviews in a particular discipline or disciplines."

     SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that the amendments made to section 46-15.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 2 of this Act shall not be repealed when section 46-15.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes is reenacted on July 1, 2024, pursuant to sections 1 and 2 of Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019.

 

Report Title:

Infrastructure Dedication; Affordable Housing; Counties

 

Description:

Conditions the authority of a county whose population is greater than five hundred thousand to exercise state housing powers upon a county's continued compliance with provisions regarding the acceptance of the dedication of infrastructure and public highways in affordable housing developments.  Amends various provisions relating to the dedication of infrastructure to a county.  (SD1)

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.