Middle-income Housing Authority Act

Under current law, the middle-income housing authority (authority) has the power to make and enter into contracts or agreements with public or private entities to facilitate public-private partnerships. The bill clarifies this power of the authority to enter into public-private partnerships by specifying that:

• The affordable rental housing component of a public-private partnership is exempt from state and local taxation;
• A public-private partnership may provide for the transfer of the interest in an affordable rental housing project to an entity other than the authority;
• The authority may issue bonds to finance the affordable rental housing component in a public-private partnership; and
• Bonds issued by the authority may be payable from the revenue and assets of the affordable rental housing component of a public-private partnership or solely from the revenue or assets of the authority as current law requires.

Additionally, the bill expands the board of directors of the authority from 14 to 16 by adding 2 nonvoting members. The senate majority leader and the house majority leader will each appoint a member of the general assembly from their respective chambers to serve as the 2 new nonvoting members, unless the senate majority leader and the house majority leader are from the same political party in which case the house minority leader will appoint the member to the board of directors from the house.

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)