Let's go.

Please is this for me.

Hi, good evening everyone.

Thursday, June 11 times 606.

Chair Sandhex.

Present.

Vice Chairman Taylor is absent.

Councillor Davidson.

Councilman Graves.

Councilman Peterson is absent the food president to act in the form.

Thank you.

I want to recognize our council president Rachel Miller for joining us today.

Thank you.

An ordinance amending chapter 21, revenue and finance of the province political ordinances to add Article 19.

Thank you.

So who will be presenting on idol?

I'm going to present some eight law.

Thank you.

Hi everybody.

Lovely to be here with you all.

It's been a while since this was first introduced in 2024.

So if there were buildings with de restricted affordable units and there were market rate units, this tax treatment would have just under that ordinance applied to the low-income units themselves.

Rather than like the original one apply just to the restricted units, uh that version set a threshold for affordability.

The new latest version in front of you keeps the threshold that was set, adjusts it slightly, and I'll walk through the specific specifics of that, but it also generally aligns this with other low-income housing programs and subsidies and tax credits.

Was that it can be very confusing and difficult and unnecessarily cumbersome when there's different eligibilities for all these different programs.

And counselors didn't want to add to that, right?

They counselors uh seem to want to align this with others so that those who are providing low-income housing were taxed appropriately.

Um and that's really what this is making sure they're taxed appropriately.

Um, so if you open the uh red line version of the ordinance, um so that's the substitution seeking.

What's one thing that's important to note this can be a little bit confusing?

Oftentimes when there's their red line ordinances, it's amendments to an existing ordinance.

But in this context, there is no existing ordinance.

There's nothing in the books on eight law in the code of ordinances, right?

There's the state law, and then there's a proposed municipal ordinance, and this is red lines on that proposal.

So what's confusing about this is all these words are new, whether there's a red line or not, these are all a proposed ordinance.

Does that make sense?

Okay, yes.

Um, okay, so you have your standard definitions, but let's really get into the meat of it, which starts in eligible properties, section 21314.

Um, so what this ordinance does is absent the estate definition of low-income housing for the 8% tax treatment, it sets forth exactly what the eligible properties are.

Because we know that right now when it's without any guidance, sometimes the 8% tax treatment is given to properties that have a just a few restricted units, maybe even at 100% of the area needed income, and the rest of the building maybe market rate or luxury.

Um, so this sets clear eligibility.

So you'll see in this eligible properties.

Um, if you go to two A and B, these uh say that the 8% tax treatment is only going to properties that have deed restrictions where rents are being restricted to 30% of incomes and where incomes are being restricted to the threshold set in three.

So in three here, you'll see there are two pathways to qualify for eight law the threshold and uh the uh having the eligibility for LITEC.

So you'll see these thresholds here.

If your building has 40% of units restricted to 60% or less AMI, you would qualify for the 8% tax treatment for the entire building.

If your building has 51% of units at 80% or less AMI, the building would qualify.

Um, I know that you all I imagine haven't had the chance to read, but received a letter from the administration about 20 minutes before this meeting.

Uh, in that letter, you'll see that 51% number mentioned.

So this was a change in alignment with the letter that the administration sent because there's some programs, and two of note are HUD CDG and the RI 2030 small scale rental threshold.

Those buildings use those programs use this threshold 51% of units at 80% AMI.

Um so it allows us, yes.

Um sorry, we could do just to make sure that I want to correct me.

So the administration mentioned it as uh as a concern in their letter, but it's been addressed since since they pointed out to us in a meeting.

So the letter that Emily sent is kind of uh recap of a meeting that we had on Tuesday with the administration.

Of course, uh, these are this ordinance has was introduced two years ago.

Um we met with them on Tuesday, um and they provided this feedback that you received in this letter.

So that has since been incorporated, still in your letter, um, but we have incorporated it.

Thank you.

There's other feedback in there that was not incorporated, and we can also discuss that, but um that piece was uh okay, and then the other way to um achieve eligibility um is if your property qualifies for LITEC, which is the low-income housing tax credit, the main federal tax credit for the development of affordable housing.