SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2469        FILED ON: 2/19/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 872

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Brendan P. Crighton

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act leveraging additional resources for local housing authorities.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2469        FILED ON: 2/19/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 872

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 785 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act leveraging additional resources for local housing authorities.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 11 of said chapter 121B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

“Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a housing authority, with the approval of the department, shall have the power to secure indebtedness incurred for the preservation, modernization and maintenance of one or more of its low-rent housing developments assisted under section 32 or section 34 of chapter 121B by a pledge of a portion of capital funds awarded to it for improvements to be carried out pursuant to a department-approved capital improvement plan in accordance with department regulations governing capital projects. The department shall promulgate regulations establishing limitations on the percentage of awarded capital funds that may be pledged to secure indebtedness, describing permitted terms for borrowing and repayment, and establishing criteria for housing authorities that will be permitted to incur indebtedness secured by a pledge of capital funds. Any pledge of future year capital funds under this section is subject to the availability of funds under the department’s capital spending plan as approved by the governor for that year. All financing documents related to future year capital fund amounts must include a statement that the pledging of funds is subject to the availability of funds under the department’s capital spending plan as approved by the governor.”.

SECTION 2. Section 34 of said chapter 121B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fifth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

“The proceeds of any sale or other disposition of such project in excess of the total of all obligations of the housing authority with respect to such project shall, after the payment of all bonds issued by the housing authority to finance the cost of such project and payment of the costs of the sale or disposition, be retained by the housing authority for the preservation, modernization and maintenance of its public housing assisted under this chapter as approved by the department, or where the housing authority has no public housing assisted under this chapter, such proceeds shall be paid to the department to fund capital improvements for the preservation, modernization and maintenance of state-aided public housing.”.

SECTION 3. Said section 34 of said chapter 121B, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the tenth paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

“Whenever a housing authority shall determine that land acquired by it under clause (d) of section 11 for the purpose of this section is in excess of or no longer required for such purposes it may, upon approval by the department, sell or otherwise dispose of such land by deed or instrument approved as to form by the attorney general. If the housing authority is disposing of such land for purposes of housing development, it may do so in accordance with section 26 of this chapter. So long as any bonds issued by a housing authority to finance the cost of a project under this section or section 35 and guaranteed by the commonwealth are outstanding, funds received from a disposition of land as provided in this chapter shall be applied in accordance with the fourth paragraph of this section. After the payment of all bonds issued by the housing authority to finance the cost of such project, funds received shall be applied in accordance with the fifth paragraph of this section.”.

SECTION 4. Section 16 of said chapter 121B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

“Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this chapter or in any other general or special law relative to the tax status of real property, buildings or other structures owned by a housing authority, a controlled affiliate, or another private entity, including without limitation a for-profit or charitable corporation, general or limited partnership, or limited liability company, that contain or will contain replacement units as defined in section 1, shall be exempt from taxation, betterments and special assessments to the extent such buildings or structures are restricted for use as replacement units, including associated common areas and associated land. If replacement units and associated common areas constitute only a portion of such resulting buildings or structures, the exemption shall be prorated based on the ratio which the square footage of replacement units bears to the square footage of all other residential or commercial units within the buildings or structures. The housing authority, controlled affiliate or other private entity shall pay (a) with respect to the exempt portion of the buildings or structures and land, a payment in lieu of taxes consistent with the valuation or other formula generally applicable under this section to the housing authority’s real estate in the city or town in which such real estate is located, or as otherwise previously agreed upon between the city or town and the housing authority as the method for computing the payments to be made in lieu of taxes, and using the ratio described above; and (b) with respect to the non-exempt portion of the buildings or structures and land, real estate taxes in accordance with chapter 59 of the General Laws based on the fair cash value of the non-exempt portion of the buildings or structures and non-exempt portion of the land using the ratio described above.”.