Property Tax Relief Proposed for Community Land Trusts

Many thanks to Representative Keith Fitzgerald (Sarasota) for again sponsoring the CLT property tax legislation. The bill will be considered in the 2009 legislative session. Click here to view a copy of the proposed language.

Rep. Aubuchon Files Housing Bill

Representative Aubuchon has filed the housing bill again this year and it contains the property tax language for community land trusts which directs the property appraisers to use the resale restriction in the ground lease to determine the assessed value of the land owned by the CLT and the structure owned by the homeowner. The bill filed December 23, 2008 is HB 161. There is no companion bill in the Senate at this time. The text of the entire bill can be found at
www.flsenate.gov/data/session/2009/House/bills/billtext/pdf/h016100.pdf

Florida Community Land Trust Institute Advocacy for Property Tax Relief

HB 699 sponsored by Representative Gary Aubuchon in the 2008 Legislative Session provided ad valorem (property tax) direction to property appraisers for the assessment of community land trust land and improvements (the structure or home on the community land trust owned land).

The reason this legislation is needed is because certain county property appraisers indicated they would not consider the resale restricted value when assessing the land trust home. This would mean, for example, that a community land trust home with a restricted resale price of $150,000 might be assessed at $450,000- the amount the house could be sold for if it were not a resale restricted home. The CLT homeowner would therefore be paying taxes on a value the homeowner could never realize and the real property tax burden would increase the cost of owning the home, directly undermining the intention of providing affordable homeownership.

HB 699 died on the calendar the last day of the 2008 session. RlwaysShowPlaceholderText> MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 epresentative Aubuchon has indicated that he will be filing the bill again in the 2009 session. Below is the language from HB 699—we expect this same language to be used in the 2009 legislation. The Florida Community Land Trust Institute will keep you updated throughout the 2009 session. You can also follow bills by going to www.flsenate.gov and www.myfloridahouse.org

Section 1. 193.018, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
193.018 Land owned by a community land trust to provide affordable housing; assessment; structural improvements, condominium parcels, and cooperative parcels.--

(1) As used in this section, the term "community land trust" means a nonprofit entity that is qualified as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and has as one of its purposes the acquisition of land to be held in perpetuity for the primary purpose of providing affordable homeownership.

(2) A community land trust may convey structural improvements located on specific parcels of land to provide affordable housing, which are identified by a legal description contained in and subject to a ground lease having a term of at least 99 years, to natural persons or families who meet the extremely-low, very-low, low, or moderate income limits specified in s. 420.0004, or the income limits for workforce housing, as defined in s. 420.5095(3). A community land trust shall retain a preemptive option to purchase any structural improvements, condominium parcels or cooperative parcels on the land at a price determined by a formula specified in the ground lease which is designed to ensure that the structural improvements, condominium parcels or cooperative parcels remain affordable.

(3) In arriving at just valuation under s. 193.011, a structural improvement, condominium parcel or cooperative parcel that provides affordable housing on land owned by a community land trust, and the land owned by the community land trust, and subject to a 99-year or longer ground lease shall be assessed using the following criteria:

(a) The amount a willing purchaser would pay a willing seller for the land is limited to an amount commensurate with the terms of the ground lease, which includes the restriction of the use of the land to providing affordable housing in perpetuity.

(b) The amount a willing purchaser would pay a willing seller for the resale restricted improvements, condominium parcel or cooperative parcel is limited to the amount determined by the formula in the ground lease.

(c) If the ground lease and all amendments and supplements thereto, or a memorandum documenting how such lease and amendments or supplements restrict the price at which the improvements, condominium parcel or cooperative parcel may be sold, is recorded in the official public records of the county in which the leased land is located, the recorded lease and any amendments and supplements, or the recorded memorandum, shall be deemed a land use regulation during the term of the lease as amended or supplemented.

Property Tax Relief for Community Land Trusts Bills Filed in Florida House and Senate

The Florida Community Land Trust Institute has been working with Senator Bennett and Representative Fitzgerald to obtain ad valorem (real property) tax direction and tax relief for community land trust properties. This legislation was originally adopted in June, 2007, but due to a legislative staff error, never became effective. SB 796 and HB 431 are identical bills which we expect to pass in the 2008 session, and become effective July 1, 2008. Should you have any questions, please contact Jaimie Ross at jaimieross@aol.com

The entire text of the bill can be found at

http://flsenate.gov/data/session/2008/Senate/bills/billtext/pdf/s0796.pdf

Community Land Trusts on rise

Community Land Trusts have grown steadily and spread all over the country, as more nonprofits and local governments have embraced the concept as a way to provide permanently affordable housing, according to a new survey by the Lincoln Institute.

Key findings of the survey, now available in this working paper , include:
• CLTs largely serve very low (less than 50% area median income), low (50-80% area median income) and some moderate (80-120% area median income) income households.
• While most (95 percent) of the responding organizations have units for homeownership, 45 percent reported that they also have rental units in their housing portfolio. The majority of organizations (80 percent) have less than 100 units including those owned and rented.
• Of the 6,495 homeownership and rental units reported, only 3 percent of ownership units and 7 percent of rental units were vacant.
• The majority (67 percent) of residential buildings are single family attached or detached houses.
• New construction is by far the most common housing development activity, although responding organizations also reported acquiring and rehabilitating existing homes.
Almost all of the respondents reported a 99-year ground lease, although some ground lease durations are for as few as 20. Nearly 60% of responding organizations reported that they had resales.

Property Tax Relief for

Community Land Trusts

Property Tax Relief for Community Land Trusts

In HB 1, passed June 14^th, (special session 2007 B), the Florida Legislature adopted property tax relief for the community land trust (nonprofit owner of the land) and direction to property appraisers on the valuation of the resale restricted home. But due to a legislative staff error in bill drafting, the effective date for the community land trust language was tied to the proposed constitutional amendment referenced in HB 1, which is no longer in effect. The following, therefore, is the language the House and Senate intended to become effective in 2007, but will need to be adopted again in the 2008 legislative session.

193.017 Assessment of structural improvements on land owned by a community land trust and used to provide affordable housing.--

(1) As used in this section, the term "community land trust" means a nonprofit entity that is qualified as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and has as one of its purposes the acquisition of land to be held in perpetuity for the primary purpose of providing affordable homeownership.

(2) A community land trust may convey structural improvements located on specific parcels of such land which are identified by a legal description contained in and subject to a ground lease having a term of at least 99 years to natural persons or families who meet the extremely-low, very-low, low, and moderate income limits, as specified in s. 420.0004, or the income limits for workforce housing, as defined in s. 420.5095(3). A community land trust shall retain a preemptive option to purchase any structural improvements on the land at a price determined by a formula specified in the ground lease which is designed to ensure that the structural improvements remain affordable.

(3) In arriving at just valuation under s. 193.011, a structural improvement that provides affordable housing on land owned by a community land trust and subject to a 99-year or longer ground lease shall be assessed using the following criteria:

(a) The amount a willing purchaser would pay a willing seller shall be limited to the amount determined by the formula in the ground lease.

(b) If the ground lease and all amendments and supplements thereto, or a memorandum documenting how such lease and amendments or supplements restrict the price at which the improvements may be sold, is recorded in the official public records of the county in which the leased land is located, the recorded lease and any amendments and supplements, or the recorded memorandum, shall be deemed a land use regulation during the term of the lease as amended or supplemented.

Section 196.1978 which addresses exemption from property taxes, extends ad valorem tax exemption to “land that is owned by an exempt entity and that is subject to a 99 year or longer ground lease for the purpose of providing affordable homeownership”.

Workforce Housing is Provided in Northwood Renaissance Community Land Trust

September 28, 2007

Workforce Housing is Provided in Northwood Renaissance Community Land Trust

West Palm Beach, Florida- On September 29, 2007, first-time homebuyers Sampson and Marie Lagearre purchased the sixth Community Land Trust (CLT) home built by Northwood Renaissance. The agency partnered with Palm Beach County and Local Initiatives Support Corporation to provide Sampson and Marie with their needed down payment assistance. Their mortgage was provided by Washington Mutual Bank.

Sampson Lagearre is a machine technician for Palm Beach Newspapers and Marie Lagearre is employed by the Breakers. They have 3 children. The family came to Northwood Renaissance after having difficulty obtaining housing that was affordable and met their family’s needs. They acquired a realtor to assist them in their search but the available homes in their price range either lacked enough space for a family of 5 or required extensive repairs. The Lagearres found the CLT houses to be exactly what they needed: well-built, spacious and, most important, affordable.

Northwood Renaissance’s CLT provides an affordable alternative to renting, placing home ownership within the financial reach of many working families by removing the cost of land from the purchase price of the house. The CLT also expands the reach of all funding for first-time homebuyers by lowering the amount of down payment assistance needed for each buyer, thereby extending the reach of the available purchase assistance. This program is a benefit to the community as well because it conserves our affordable housing and the funds used to create it for future first-time homebuyers.

Northwood Renaissance is in the process of completing additional homes through the Community Land Trust for purchase by first-time homebuyers like the Lagearre family. On Wednesday, October 24^th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the office of Northwood Renaissance located at 510 24^th Street, West Palm Beach, FL 33407 there will be a CLT Orientation meeting for first-time homebuyers. For additional information about the Community Land Trust and to reserve your seat at orientation, please call Christina Hewitt, Community Land Trust Manager, at (561) 832-6776, extension 107.