By: Márquez H.B. No. 2878

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain qualified residential rental assistance projects financed by private activity bonds.

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

SECTION 1. Section 1372.002, Government Code, is amended by adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:

(f) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), an applicant to which this subsection applies may aggregate more than one qualified residential rental project into a single, combined project as part of the participation of the housing authority for the applicable municipality in the Rental Assistance Demonstration program administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, as specified by the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012 (Pub. L. No. 112-55) and its subsequent amendments, if the combined project is related to the municipal housing authority's conversion of public housing units as permitted under that program.

(g) Subsection (f) applies only to an applicant created by a municipal housing authority established by a municipality that is adjacent to an international boundary of this state and that is located in a county with a population of more than 800,000.

SECTION 2. Section 1372.006(a), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) An application for a reservation under Subchapter B or a carryforward designation under Subchapter C must be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee in the amount of $500, except that:

(1) for projects that include multiple facilities authorized under Section 1372.002(e), the application must be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee in an amount of $500 for each facility included in the application for the project; [and]

(2) for issuers of qualified residential rental project bonds the application must be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of $5,000, of which the board shall retain $1,000 to offset the costs of the private activity bond allocation program and the administration of that program and of which the board shall transfer $4,000 through an interagency agreement to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for use in the affordable housing research and information program as provided by Section 2306.259; and

(3) for a combined project that includes multiple qualified residential rental projects authorized under Section 1372.002(f), the application must be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee in an amount of $5,000 for each qualified residential rental project included in the application for the combined project, the total amount of which the board shall retain 20 percent to offset the costs of the private activity bond allocation program and the administration of that program and of which the board shall transfer 80 percent through an interagency agreement to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for use in the affordable housing research and information program as provided by Section 2306.259.

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act in amending Chapter 1372, Government Code, applies only to a reservation of state ceiling granted on or after January 1, 2015.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.