Section 50544 Of Chapter 3.7. The Jobs-housing Balance Improvement Program From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 31. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 3.7.
50544
. (a) One hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) of the funds
transferred for purposes of this chapter in Item 2240-114-0001 of the
Budget Act of 2000, any funds transferred in Item 2240-114-0001 and
appropriated pursuant to Item 2240-114-3006 in the Budget Act of
2001, and any funds appropriated thereafter for the purposes of this
section shall be used to award incentive grants to cities, counties,
and city and counties to be used for any project, service, or other
local need determined by the city, county, or city and county to be
in the community's best interest. Grants shall be provided through a
grant agreement that requires the recipient to provide to the
department a report on the number of residential building permits
issued during the reporting period, the number of certificates of
occupancy issued for those units, and the services provided or
amenities purchased or built. The department may operate this program
through at least one annual allocation. In addition, because housing
production may be affected by economic factors during the course of
any allocation year, the department may, if it deems necessary,
reasonably adjust incentive criteria to meet the intent of this
section and allow funding to remain available for subsequent annual
funding cycles upon expenditure authorization by the Legislature.
(b) To be eligible for a grant pursuant to this section, a local
government shall do both of the following:
(1) By the end of the calendar year in which unit production is to
be counted (hereafter referred to as "allocation reporting year"),
have an adopted housing element that the department has determined
pursuant to Section 65585 of the Government Code to be in substantial
compliance with the requirements of Article 10.6 (commencing with
Section 65580) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the
Government Code.
(2) Have a demonstrable and significant increase in the issuance
of residential building permits issued between January 1 and December
31 of the allocation reporting year over the average number of
building permits issued annually for the most recent 36-month period
that can be calculated prior to the allocation reporting year. This
calculation shall be adjusted for incorporations and annexations. The
department shall establish a benchmark level to be achieved in order
to establish eligibility for funding based on criteria including a
survey of economic forecasts to be conducted by the Department of
Finance no later than November 30 of the year prior to the reporting
year for any year in which the program is to be operated.
(c) Grant amounts shall be determined as a per-unit incentive
weighted for high, medium, and low employment demand areas. In
addition, the department shall provide additional incentives for
units in projects within eligible communities that meet criteria
designed to encourage planning priorities such as affordability,
multifamily housing, and infill development. The department shall
establish the definitions and measurement specifications for the
incentive criteria to be used to determine grant amounts that are
easily and objectively verifiable.
(d) Funding shall be provided as soon after January 1 of the year
following the allocation reporting year, as is reasonably possible,
allowing time for receipt by the Department of Finance of yearend
production figures as well as other information necessary to apply
the established criteria. If all funds are not expended after the end
of the calendar year in which housing production is counted, the
department may continue the program into the following year if it
determines there are adequate appropriated funds to administer the
program. If residential production within eligible jurisdictions
exceeds the department's projections, per-unit incentives shall be
prorated within the appropriated funding amount.
(e) The department shall solicit and consider comments from
interested parties on the criteria that shall be used for determining
the amount of funds granted per unit. The department may deny
funding to any jurisdiction that it determines, based on reasonable
evidence, failed to issue residential building permits on a timely
basis between the effective date of this chapter and January 1, 2001,
or, where the department determines, upon reasonable evidence, that
the jurisdiction inappropriately withheld the issuance of building
permits so that it could be counted in a subsequent allocation
reporting year.
(f) No later than December 31, 2002, and on December 31 of each
subsequent year in which funds are expended, the department shall
provide an interim report to the Legislature indicating the benchmark
levels of production established, the number of jurisdictions
accessing the program, the number of residential units building
permits issued above the established benchmark, and the success of
the additional incentives in achieving state housing policies. When
all funds have been expended, the department shall provide a final
report with updates to the data contained in the previous reports, a
description of the achievements and expenditures by local governments
through the program and information regarding the number of
certificates of occupancy issued in relation to the residential
building permits issued. The report shall be issued within twelve
months following the final allocation of funds.