S*1446 Session 109 (1991-1992)
S*1446(Rat #0477, Act #0410 of 1992) General Bill, By I.E. Lourie, Courson,
D.L. Hinds, Matthews, Passailaigue and Washington
A Bill to amend Chapter 13, Title 31, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by
adding Article 4 so as to enact the Housing Trust Fund Act of 1992 and to
provide definitions, to create the fund and an advisory committee, to provide
for the duties of an executive director; and to provide for the purpose, use,
and operation of the fund; to amend Section 12-21-380, relating to tax on
instruments conveying realty, so as to increase the tax from one dollar ten
cents to one dollar thirty cents on each five hundred dollars of consideration
paid for the property and to provide that this twenty cent increase be paid to
the Housing Trust Fund; to redesignate Article 3, Chapter 3, Title 31 as
Article 1, Chapter 13, Title 31; to redesignate Sections 31-3-110 through
31-3-180 as 31-13-20 through 31-13-90, respectively; and to redesignate
Section 31-13-160 as 31-13-10.-amended title
04/02/92 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-3
04/02/92 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance SJ-3
04/07/92 Senate Recalled from Committee on Finance SJ-6
04/07/92 Senate Amended SJ-6
04/07/92 Senate Read second time SJ-7
04/07/92 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of amendments SJ-7
04/08/92 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-27
04/14/92 House Introduced and read first time HJ-24
04/14/92 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-24
04/22/92 House Recalled from Committee on Ways and Means HJ-59
05/06/92 House Objection by Rep. Corning, Marchbanks, Ross,
Kirsh, Meacham, Cato HJ-44
05/06/92 House Objection by Rep. Quinn & Hyatt HJ-44
05/07/92 House Special order, set for following consideration of
S 385 (under H 4832) HJ-69
05/14/92 House Amended HJ-325
05/14/92 House Debate interrupted HJ-334
05/19/92 House Amended HJ-72
05/19/92 House Read second time HJ-83
05/21/92 House Read third time and returned to Senate with
amendments HJ-69
05/26/92 Senate Concurred in House amendment and enrolled SJ-14
05/27/92 Ratified R 477
06/02/92 Signed By Governor
06/02/92 Effective date 06/02/92
06/02/92 Act No. 410
07/10/92 Copies available
(A410, R477, S1446)
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 13, TITLE 31, CODE OF
LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE
4 SO AS TO ENACT THE HOUSING TRUST FUND ACT OF
1992 AND TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS, TO CREATE THE
FUND AND AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE, TO PROVIDE
FOR THE DUTIES OF AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; AND TO
PROVIDE FOR THE PURPOSE, USE, AND OPERATION OF
THE FUND; TO AMEND SECTION 12-21-380, RELATING TO
TAX ON INSTRUMENTS CONVEYING REALTY, SO AS TO
INCREASE THE TAX FROM ONE DOLLAR TEN CENTS
TO ONE DOLLAR THIRTY CENTS ON EACH FIVE
HUNDRED DOLLARS OF CONSIDERATIONPAID FOR
THE PROPERTY AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS TWENTY
CENT INCREASE BE PAID TO THE HOUSING TRUST
FUND; TO REDESIGNATE ARTICLE 3, CHAPTER 3, TITLE
31 AS ARTICLE 1, CHAPTER 13, TITLE 31; TO
REDESIGNATE SECTIONS 31-3-110 THROUGH 31-3-180 AS
31-13-20 THROUGH 31-13-90, RESPECTIVELY; AND TO
REDESIGNATE SECTION 31-13-160 AS 31-13-10.
Whereas, the availability of affordable, safe, and sanitary housing
for all citizens is essential to the social and economic well-being
of the State of South Carolina; and
Whereas, there exists in the State of South Carolina a serious
shortage of residential housing available at affordable sale or
rental prices to persons and families of very low and lower
income; and
Whereas, the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy for
the State of South Carolina has identified further the critical
shortage of affordable housing for special needs populations such
as the homeless, persons with disabilities, very low income
elderly, and persons and families needing transitional housing;
and
Whereas, the provision of affordable housing by innovative
partnerships between government, nonprofit sponsors, and the
private sector requires the dedication of state financial resources
to supplement and leverage other public and private resources;
and
Whereas, participation in the various programs authorized by the
National Affordable Housing Act will require that the State of
South Carolina make certain financial resources available to be
used as matching funds; and
Whereas, the General Assembly finds that the creation of a
Housing Trust Fund to provide state financial resources to assist
in the provision of affordable housing affirms the commitment of
state government that all citizens of South Carolina will have
access to safe, decent, sanitary, and affordable housing. Now,
therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
Housing Trust Fund
SECTION 1. Chapter 13, Title 31 of the 1976 Code is amended
by adding:
"Article 4
Housing Trust Fund
Section 31-13-400. This article may be cited as the South
Carolina Housing Trust Fund Act.
Section 31-13-410. As used in this article:
(1) `Affordable housing' means residential housing that, so
long as the same is occupied by lower or very low income
households, requires payment of monthly housing costs of no
more than thirty percent of one-twelfth adjusted annual
income.
(2) `Annual income' means the anticipated total income from
all sources received by the family head and spouse and by each
additional member of the household, including all net income
derived from assets.
(3) `Authority' means the South Carolina State Housing
Finance and Development Authority.
(4) `Board' means the Board of Commissioners of the South
Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority.
(5) `Executive director' means the executive director of the
authority.
(6) `Lower income household' means a single person, family,
or unrelated persons living together whose annual income
adjusted for household size is more than fifty percent, but less
than eighty percent, of the median income of the area of residence
as determined by the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
(7) `Substandard unit' means a housing unit which, by reason
of dilapidation, deterioration, age, or obsolescence, inadequate
provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces,
high density of population and overcrowding, unsanitary or unsafe
conditions, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or
property by fire and other causes, or any combination of these
factors, is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, or has
an adverse effect upon the public health, safety, morals, or welfare
of its inhabitants.
(8) `Trust fund' or `fund' means the South Carolina Housing
Trust Fund.
(9) `Very low income household' means a household that has
an annual income adjusted for household size of less than fifty
percent of the median income of the area of residence as
determined by the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
Section 31-13-420. (A) There is established the South
Carolina Housing Trust Fund. The State Treasurer shall serve as
trustee for the fund and shall hold the monies deposited in the
fund separate and distinct from the general funds of the State.
The trust fund consists of monies received under this article and
any other sources of revenue, public or private, including
donations dedicated for inclusion in the trust fund. The State
Treasurer shall deposit the funds in a separate account to be
administered by the authority in accordance with the guidelines
and purposes established by this article. Interest, repayment, or
other increment resulting from investment must be deposited in
the fund.
(B) The monies in the trust fund must be paid out only upon
the signature of the chairman of the board or a designee of the
board and the signature of the executive director, upon the written
warrants of the Comptroller General drawn on the State Treasurer
to the payee designated in the requisition. The authority shall
maintain separate records and books of accounts for all monies
deposited into the fund. The authority is entitled to
reimbursement for the costs or expenses incurred in the
administration and operation of the fund from monies deposited
into the fund.
(C) The board shall make a separate annual report to the
Governor and the General Assembly with respect to the fund
pursuant to Article 11, Chapter 1 of Title 1.
Section 31-13-430. (A) An advisory committee is established
consisting of nine members, three of whom must be selected by
the board and must include one member of a very low income
household, one member of a lower income household, a
representative of a nonprofit organization which pursues housing
programs, and one representative of each of the following:
(1) South Carolina Low Income Housing Coalition;
(2) South Carolina Citizens for Housing;
(3) South Carolina Association of Housing Authority
Executive Directors;
(4) South Carolina Community Development
Association;
(5) South Carolina Housing Partnership; and
(6) South Carolina Association of Regional Councils.
(B) On or before the first day of January of each year the
presiding officer of each organization represented on the advisory
committee shall notify the chairman of the authority of the name,
mailing address, and telephone number of its representative on the
advisory committee. It is the duty of the chairman to ensure that
timely notification of each meeting of the advisory committee is
provided to each of its members.
(C) The advisory committee shall meet at least four times a
year to advise the board of particularly critical housing needs, to
recommend to the board those areas of the State in which requests
for proposals for developments should be published, the type of
development for which proposals should be solicited, and to
provide other pertinent information to the board as the members
of the advisory committee consider appropriate. The committee
shall adopt rules concerning meeting attendance by its
members.
(D) Members of the advisory committee are not eligible for
reimbursement for travel, lodging, meals, or per diem.
Membership on the committee must include representation from
rural communities.
Section 31-13-440. (A) Pursuant to this article and in
accordance with the procedures adopted by the board, the
executive director is responsible for the day-to-day operations of
the fund.
(B) The executive director shall:
(1) develop and implement a comprehensive program for
the use of the fund which ensures the equitable distribution of
monies in the fund between urban and rural areas of South
Carolina;
(2) develop and implement an application and selection
system to identify housing sponsors and affordable housing
developments which qualify to receive assistance from the
fund;
(3) provide technical assistance to prospective
applicants;
(4) monitor developments receiving assistance from the
fund to ensure that the developments are operated in a manner
consistent with this article and in accordance with the
representations made by the sponsors of these developments to the
fund; and
(5) ensure that all developments receiving assistance from
the fund are operated in a manner consistent with the South
Carolina Fair Housing Law.
(C) The executive director may utilize members of the
authority staff as considered necessary to discharge the executive
director's responsibilities under this section.
Section 31-13-445. No more than twenty percent of trust fund
monies expended in a fiscal year may be for projects in any one
county.
Section 31-13-450. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, all monies deposited in the fund must be used to increase
the supply of safe, decent, and affordable housing for members of
the very low or lower income households within this State. These
monies must be used to:
(1) encourage affordable home ownership and rental
housing opportunities for the very low and lower income
individuals and households;
(2) assist in the creation and preservation of safe, decent,
affordable, and sanitary housing for the very low and lower
income persons through the provision of loans and grants;
(3) increase the availability of affordable rental and
owner-occupied housing for special needs populations, including
housing for the elderly, the handicapped, and the homeless;
(4) promote creativity and flexibility in the design of
programs at the local level to bring about the creation of safe,
decent, affordable, and sanitary home ownership and rental
housing in quality living environments;
(5) maximize the utilization of federal housing assistance
programs and leverage all other public and private resources;
and
(6) establish a spirit of partnership between government,
nonprofit, and for-profit concerns and those in need of affordable
housing.
(B) Monies deposited in the fund must be used to finance, in
whole or in part, affordable housing projects and developments
eligible under this section. Monies deposited in the fund may be
used to make loans, grants, or provide for matching funds to
secure financial assistance made available through federal funding
and other programs to eligible applicants for the provision of
affordable housing. Only nonprofit sponsors are eligible to
receive grants for the implementation of an affordable housing
proposal. Funds for resident services programs which further
independence and responsibility may be included in a proposal
submitted to the fund but may not exceed two percent of the total
funds requested in the proposal.
(C) In evaluating proposals for the use of monies deposited in
the fund, the board shall ensure, to the extent feasible, that monies
are allocated to affordable housing for home ownership or rental
housing developments which provide housing to members of very
low income households. No project or development is eligible to
receive assistance from the fund unless the housing units located
in the project or development are reserved exclusively for the use
of members of very low or lower income households for not less
than thirty years, beginning on the date on which ten percent of
the units in the development or project become occupied.
(D) The board shall ensure that monies deposited in the fund
are allocated only to projects which are eligible projects. An
eligible project consists of one or more residential buildings
containing similarly constructed units, the site on which the
building is located, and any functionally related facilities.
Multiple buildings may constitute a project only if bounded
together as a result of proximate location or common ownership
and financing.
(E) The board may approve the withdrawal of monies
deposited in the fund for the acquisition and rehabilitation of
substandard housing units, new construction of housing units, to
provide assistance for the construction or rehabilitation of shelters
for the homeless, or for such other programs which increase the
supply of safe, decent, and affordable housing for members of
very low or lower income households which the board considers
appropriate to meet the purposes stated in this section.
Section 31-13-460. Units of state, regional, and local
governments, including municipal corporations and nonprofit and
for-profit housing sponsors, are eligible to apply to receive monies
from the fund for the development of affordable housing.
Section 31-13-470. (A) Monies within the fund must be
allocated to eligible applicants, who have submitted proposals for
eligible projects, in accordance with funding cycles established at
least annually by the board.
(B) In allocating monies within the fund, priority must be
given to applications which provide for one or more of the
following:
(1) affordable housing proposals which serve very low
income households;
(2) local government contributions to project costs,
including infrastructure improvements, contributions of
publicly-owned land for housing development, and the provision
of funds for resident services;
(3) proposals which utilize financial assistance available
through federal funding or other programs to leverage monies
available from the fund;
(4) applicant contributions to project costs;
(5) proposals submitted by nonprofit sponsors for the
provision of affordable housing;
(6) coordination with other housing and infrastructure
investments in the community;
(7) provision of housing to persons whose current
housing fails to meet basic standards of health and safety and who
have little prospect of improving the condition of their
housing."
Tax on instruments of conveyance of realty
SECTION 2. Section 12-21-380 of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"Section 12-21-380. A deed, instrument, or writing
whereby any lands, tenements, or other realty sold is granted,
assigned, transferred, or otherwise conveyed to, or vested in, the
purchaser or any other person by the purchaser's direction when
the consideration or value of the interest or property conveyed
exclusive of the value of any lien or encumbrance remaining on
the interest or property at the time of sale exceeds one hundred
dollars and does not exceed five hundred dollars must be taxed
one dollar and thirty cents and for each additional five hundred
dollars, or fractional part thereof, one dollar and thirty cents. Ten
cents of the tax on those sales over one hundred dollars but not
exceeding five hundred dollars and ten cents of the tax on each
additional increment of five hundred dollars must be paid to the
Heritage Land Trust Fund. Twenty cents of the tax on those sales
over one hundred dollars but not exceeding five hundred dollars
and twenty cents of the tax on each additional increment of five
hundred dollars must be paid to the South Carolina Housing Trust
Fund. A deed, instrument, or writing whereby any lands,
tenements, or other realty is granted, assigned, transferred, or
otherwise conveyed to, or vested in, the State of South Carolina,
or any of its political subdivisions and departments, for highway
or other public purposes is exempted from the documentary tax
requirements of this section, and any clerk of court or register of
mesne conveyances may record these deeds or other instruments
without revenue stamps affixed and without penalty."
Articles and sections redesignated
SECTION 3. (A) Article 3 of Chapter 3, Title 31 of the 1976
Code is redesignated as Article 1 of Chapter 13, Title 31 and
entitled "State Housing Finance and Development
Authority" and Sections 31-3-110 through 31-3-180 are
redesignated as Sections 31-13-20 through 31-13-90,
respectively.
(B) Section 31-13-160 of the 1976 Code is redesignated as
Section 31-13-10 and placed in Article 1 of Chapter 13, Title 31
as designated by Section 3(A) of this act.
Time effective
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the
Governor.
Approved the 2nd day of June, 1992. |