Home » Publications » Housing News Network Journal » Vol. 29, No. 1
| Contents Download Full Issue (2.6 MB) 3 – From The Editor 4 – Florida Needs Affordable Housing Now, More Than Ever: The Data 5 – SHIP Distribution Estimates 2013-14 6 – Sadowski State and Local Housing Trust Funds Help People with Disabilities 8 – SHIP is Needed in Today’s Housing Market 9 – How are Florida’s State and Local Housing Programs Funded 10 – Member Spotlight – Keystone Challenge Fund SHIP Means Stability for Families and The Economy 12 – Member Spotlight – Tampa Bay CDC SHIP Has A Proven Track Record of Success 14 – SHIP Matches the Right Recipient with the Right Amount of Assistance 16 – Member Spotlight – Related Urban Development Group – State and Local Housing Trust Funds Provide Critically Needed Rental Housing 18 – Member Spotlight – Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County – Davis Landings 20 – Habitat for Humanity of Florida Urges the Legislature to Use SHIP Funds for SHIP 21 – Closing the Section 196.1978 Statutory Loophole 22 – NSP Expenditure Deadlines and Closeout Roll Forward 25 – Capacity Corner: Grant Writing Tips for Nonprofits 26 – Federal Housing Programs Suffer as Budget Lurches from Crisis to Crisis 27 – The Viridian-Sadowski Funds Aid in Preservation of Affordable Housing 28 – Saving Project-Based Section 8 Housing 31 – CDBG, HOME, and CHDO Workshop Facilitation 32 – SHIP Clips |
From The Editor
Housing advocates are weary from four years of near total sweeps of the housing trust fund monies. SHIP programs around the state have long waiting lists for funds yet to be received. Without a budget deficit, this is the year for SHIP and SAIL to be fully funded. The Florida Legislature has a constitutional obligation to pass a balanced budget. So when the Legislature swept housing trust funds to general revenue during years of budget deficits, we didn’t like it, but there was a rationale. But when there is no such deficit? Using tax dollars in accordance with the purpose for which they are raised is the fiscally responsible course of governing. When the documentary stamp tax was raised in 1992, with the adoption of the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Act, it was for the express purpose of funding the state and local housing trust funds. Would the industry groups such as the Florida Realtors and Florida Home Builders Association have agreed to an increase in the documentary stamp tax to fund general revenue? Of course not. Not only did the Florida Realtors and Florida Home Builders Association agree to an increase in the documentary stamp tax, they actively supported it. They supported the tax because it came with a statutory promise that those monies would be used to produce and preserve affordable housing in Florida. When the monies deposited into the state and local housing trust fund accounts are swept into general revenue it is the equivalent of having raised the documentary stamp tax to fund general revenue. Again, something the industry groups such as the Florida Realtors and Florida Home Builders Association would not have supported. ($ Million)
In this volume of the Housing News Journal, the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies provides the data to answer any lingering questions that legislators may have about whether Floridians need affordable housing. Our nonprofit and for-profit housing developer members such as Keystone Challenge and the Palm Beach Community Land Trust, Habitat for Humanity, Related Housing, and Sage Partners highlight the wonderful single family and apartment homes that can be produced and preserved for Floridians in need when adequate subsidy is available. The Florida Housing Coalition’s Technical Assistance Director and COO, Stan Fitterman, addresses the need for SHIP funding in today’s economy and how SHIP matches the right recipients with the right amount of subsidy. So, in legislative session 2013, let’s encourage and expect our elected officials to use the housing trust funds for housing. It’s time. |
Heading into the 2013 legislative session things are looking good. No budget deficit. A recovering economy that has generated an estimated $204.81 million in Sadowski state and local housing trust funds ($53.40 million for state programs like SAIL, and $151.41 million for SHIP) and an Attorney General settlement that has generated an additional $200 million in bank settlement funds to be appropriated for housing related activities in the FY 2013-14 session.