HR96

WHEREAS, skyrocketing property values coupled with Hawaii's persistently low housing inventory have contributed to the State's current affordable housing crisis;

WHEREAS, a 2019 study commissioned by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism found that the State will require an additional 50,156 homes by the year 2025, with the City and County of Honolulu requiring 22,168 new units, Hawaii County requiring 13,303 new units, Maui County requiring 10,404 new units, and Kauai County requiring 4,281 new housing units; and

WHEREAS, construction loan interest rates have also seen recent dramatic increases, which have severely impaired the ability to construct affordable housing in the State; and

WHEREAS, despite the lack of housing supply available to meet the current and even greater projected future needs of the State, there has been a lack of progress at the county level to enact policies that will stimulate housing production; and

WHEREAS, under section 45-15.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, any county shall have and may exercise the same powers, subject to applicable limitations, as those granted the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) pursuant to chapter 201H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, insofar as those powers may be reasonably construed to be exercisable by a county for the purpose of developing, constructing, and providing low- and moderate-income housing; and

WHEREAS, a program whereby counties provide affordable housing credits for affordable housing development constructed pursuant to chapter 201H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, could help further incentivize and spur the construction and development of new affordable housing projects which will in turn increase the supply of housing and potentially lower housing costs; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the counties are requested to issue affordable housing credits to an eligible developer for affordable housing units that are constructed pursuant to chapter 201H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, until July 1, 2031; provided that:

(1) Credits are requested to be issued for each single-family residence, multi-family unit, other residential unit, whether for purposes of sale, rental, or if allowed under the county's affordable housing programs, and vacant lot;

(2) If low-income housing tax credits are used in conjunction with the affordable housing developed pursuant to chapter 201H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, then affordable credits are requested not to be issued;

(3) The credits are requested to be transferable and issued on a one-credit for one-unit basis, unless the housing unit is eligible for additional credits as provided by adopted county ordinances, rules, or any memoranda of agreement between a county and HHFDC;

(4) In the event that the affordable housing credits are transferred to HHFDC, twenty-five percent of any monetary proceeds from the transfer is requested to be used by HHFDC to develop units for rental properties;

(5) The credits are requested to be applied county-wide within the same county in which the credits were earned to satisfy the affordable housing obligations imposed by the county on market-priced residential and non-residential developments;

(6) County-wide or project-specific requirements for housing class, use, or type; or construction time for affordable housing units is requested not to impair, restrict, or condition the county's obligation to apply the credits in full satisfaction of all county requirements, whether by rule, ordinance, or particular zoning conditions of a project; and

(7) HHFDC is requested to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the County of Kauai and the City and County of Honolulu, respectively, to establish, modify, or clarify the conditions for the issuance, transfer, and redemption of the affordable housing credits in accordance with any applicable county affordable housing ordinances or rules; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of the Department of Taxation, Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Mayor of the County of Maui, Mayor of the County of Hawaii, and Mayor of the County of Kauai.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Affordable Housing; Counties; Credits; Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	96
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII