Bill Text: TX SB1635 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment and administration of a program by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for the demolition and replacement of unsafe housing.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Referred to Intergovernmental Relations [SB1635 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-SB1635-Introduced.html
84R9503 JAM-D | ||
By: Lucio | S.B. No. 1635 |
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relating to the establishment and administration of a program by | ||
the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for the | ||
demolition and replacement of unsafe housing. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter K, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 2306.2595 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 2306.2595. TEXAS SAFE HOME PROGRAM. (a) The | ||
department shall establish and administer a program to provide | ||
financial assistance for the demolition and replacement of | ||
owner-occupied single-family homes that are in a condition that | ||
poses a risk to the health and safety of the occupants. | ||
(b) The board shall adopt rules to implement the program | ||
described by this section. Rules adopted under this section must | ||
establish: | ||
(1) procedures and forms for nominating a household | ||
for participation in the program; | ||
(2) eligibility criteria for participation in the | ||
program, including criteria based on: | ||
(A) the financial need of the household; | ||
(B) the physical condition of the home; and | ||
(C) other criteria the board considers | ||
necessary; | ||
(3) procedures for evaluating a household's | ||
eligibility for participation in the program; | ||
(4) a system that: | ||
(A) prioritizes and maximizes the allocation of | ||
available funds; and | ||
(B) includes the assignment of eligible | ||
households to specific funding priority levels that are designed to | ||
ensure the most effective use of funds for the most exigent | ||
circumstances; and | ||
(5) the manner in which a nomination must be made and | ||
the manner in which households will be assigned to a specific | ||
funding priority level under the system described by Subdivision | ||
(4). | ||
(c) Funding priority levels described by Subsection | ||
(b)(4)(B) must give high priority to: | ||
(1) households with children, the elderly, or persons | ||
with disabilities; | ||
(2) households whose health and safety are at greatest | ||
risk due to the continued occupancy of a home described by | ||
Subsection (a); and | ||
(3) households that: | ||
(A) are eligible for and will receive third-party | ||
contributions, including volunteer labor or additional loans, | ||
grants, or other financial assistance; or | ||
(B) will contribute labor in the demolition or | ||
construction of the home. | ||
(d) A household may be nominated for participation in the | ||
program by a mayor, fire chief, fire marshal, volunteer fire chief, | ||
county commissioner, or county judge filing a nomination with the | ||
department. | ||
(e) On receipt of a nomination regarding a household, the | ||
department shall determine whether the household is eligible to | ||
participate in the program. If the household is eligible, the | ||
department shall establish a funding priority level for the | ||
household. | ||
(f) A household may not be required to participate in the | ||
program. | ||
(g) In determining whether a nominated household is | ||
eligible for participation in the program and for the purpose of | ||
establishing a funding priority level for the household, a | ||
representative or designee of the manufactured housing division of | ||
the department shall inspect the home with the homeowner and with | ||
the person who nominated the household or that person's designee. | ||
(h) Financial assistance administered under this section | ||
may be provided in the form of a grant, partial grant, loan, or | ||
forgivable loan. | ||
(i) The department shall establish in the housing trust fund | ||
a subaccount that may be used only for providing financial | ||
assistance through the program established under this section. The | ||
subaccount consists of: | ||
(1) money deposited to the subaccount under Section | ||
158.056, Tax Code; | ||
(2) appropriations or transfers made to the | ||
subaccount; | ||
(3) unencumbered balances of the subaccount; | ||
(4) public or private gifts, grants, or donations; | ||
(5) investment income, including all interest, | ||
dividends, capital gains, or other income from the investment of | ||
any portion of the subaccount; | ||
(6) repayments received on any loans made from the | ||
subaccount; and | ||
(7) funds from any other source. | ||
(j) The department shall attempt to secure an agreement | ||
with: | ||
(1) private lending institutions for below market rate | ||
loans for use in the program; and | ||
(2) manufacturers of manufactured housing for the | ||
provision of HUD-code manufactured homes at a discounted price. | ||
(k) An entity that enters into an agreement with the | ||
department under Subsection (j) may: | ||
(1) be designated as an "Official Partner of the State | ||
of Texas for Safe and Affordable Homes"; and | ||
(2) use the designation described by Subdivision (1) | ||
in advertising and promotion. | ||
(l) The department may enter into a contract for the | ||
administration of the program. | ||
(m) Not later than September 1 of each year, the department | ||
shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker | ||
of the house of representatives, and the state fire marshal a report | ||
that documents for the preceding state fiscal year the number of | ||
households that participated in the program, the nature of the | ||
financial assistance provided under the program, and the amounts of | ||
public and private financial assistance administered through the | ||
program. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 158.056, Tax Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsection (c) to read as follows: | ||
(c) The comptroller shall deposit the tax imposed under this | ||
section to the credit of the housing trust fund subaccount | ||
established under Section 2306.2595, Government Code, for use only | ||
for the purposes authorized by that section. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |