BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1252
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1252 (Caballero)
As Amended May 2, 2007
Majority vote
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 9-4 HOUSING 6-0
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|Ayes:|Wolk, Caballero, Charles |Ayes:|Saldana, Garcia, Laird, |
| |Calderon, Huffman, Lieu, | |Hancock, Mullin, Swanson |
| |Mullin, Nava, Parra, | | |
| |Salas | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Maze, Anderson, | | |
| |Berryhill, La Malfa | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS
(vote not available)
SUMMARY : Establishes the Housing-Related Park Program, to be
administered by the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD), to allocate bond proceeds authorized by
Proposition 1C for community or neighborhood parks to cities and
counties that issue building permits for affordable housing.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires HCD, in conjunction with the Department of Parks &
Recreation (DPR), and to the extent funds are available for
this purpose, to provide grants to any city or county that
meets all of the following criteria:
a) Has adopted a housing element that HCD has found in
substantial compliance with specified affordable housing
requirements;
b) Has met or exceeded housing production thresholds
established by HCD in consultation with the Department of
Finance; and,
c) Has issued a building permit for newly constructed housing
units that are affordable to low-or very low
income-households and which meet certain affordability
AB 1252
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requirements applicable to rental or ownership housing.
2)Requires HCD to issue a Notice of Funding Availability for
each year funds are available to cover permits issued during
the designated time period, at the close of which HCD shall
accept applications. Requires grant amounts to be determined
as a per-bedroom incentive for each unit restricted for low-
and very low-income households. Requires that the grants for
very low-income units shall be greater than the grants for
low-income units.
3)Authorizes additional bonus funds to be awarded for
jurisdictions with a high need for park renovation or park
acreage, as determined by DPR, and for qualifying affordable
units in infill housing projects. Defines qualifying infill
project and urbanized area for this purpose.
4)Requires that grants be used for the costs of community or
neighborhood park creation, development or rehabilitation,
including acquisition.
5)Requires that to be eligible for funding the project must meet
minimum park standards and be in a park-deficient community,
based on criteria established by DPR.
6)Requires HCD to adopt program guidelines, which shall be
exempt from the Administrative Procedures Act.
7)Authorizes HCD to deny funding to any jurisdiction that fails
to issue permits for qualifying residential units on a timely
basis.
8)Authorizes HCD to enter into an interagency agreement with DPR
to assist in administering the program.
FISCAL IMPACT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Moderate General Fund costs in range of $500,000 in 2008/09 to
HCD and DPR to develop guidelines to implement the program,
which may be reimbursable from Proposition 1C bond proceeds
earmarked for local parks.
2)Moderate ongoing costs, in the range of $500,000 annually
AB 1252
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beginning in 2008/09 to HCD and DPR to jointly administer the
program (Proposition 1C bond funds).
COMMENTS : This bill implements a provision of Proposition 1C
that earmarks $200 million for housing-related park grants.
Proposition 1C, approved by the voters at the November 2006
general election, authorizes the issuance of $2.85 billion in
state general obligation bonds for various housing related
projects, and requires that $200 million of these bond proceeds
be deposited in the Housing-Urban-Suburban-Rural Parks Account
to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Proposition 1C did not specify which state agency should
administer the housing-related park grants, nor did it specify
any requirements for project eligibility. The Legislative
Analyst's Office, in its analysis of the 2007 Budget Bill,
recommended that DPR be designated as the administering agency
for all park grant programs funded by Proposition 1C and
Proposition 84, based on DPR's experience administering park
grants, and for administrative efficiency. This bill when it
was heard in the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee
proposed to designate DPR as the primary agency for
administration of the Proposition 1C housing-related park bonds.
After this bill was heard in the Assembly Housing Committee it
was amended to instead designate HCD as the primary
administering agency. The author now believes that while DPR
has significant experience with administering local park grants,
HCD is better positioned to understand how these parks are
related to affordable housing needs and what local jurisdictions
should be given priority. This bill as currently amended is
patterned in large part after the Workforce Housing Rewards
Program, a grant program administered by HCD and established as
part of Proposition 46, the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust
Fund Act approved by voters in 2002. That program rewarded
local entities for approving low- and very low-income affordable
housing with grants that could be used for capital expenditures,
including but not limited to parks.
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0001039