BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Tom Torlakson, Chairman
1252 (Caballero)
Hearing Date: 8/20/07 Amended: 7/17/07
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: T.&H. 6-3; N.R.&W.
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1252 would establish a program for
distributing $200 million in bond funds authorized by "The
Housing and Emergency Trust Fund Act of 2006" (Proposition 1C)
for housing-related parks in urban, suburban, and rural areas.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Fund
Program development $250-$300 General
Program administration cost pressures of $637 annually,
beginning Bond*
in 2008-09 (see staff comments)
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* Housing Urban-Suburban-and-Rural Parks Account
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
The Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006
(Proposition 1C) authorizes the issuance of $2.85 billion in
general obligation bonds, including $200 for housing-related
parks grants in urban, suburban, and rural areas, upon
appropriation by the Legislature.
AB 1252 would establish the Housing-Related Parks Program, which
would be administered by the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD), to provide grants to local governments that
issue building permits for newly constructed housing projects
with units that are affordable to very low- or low-income
households for the purpose of creating, developing, or
rehabilitating community or neighborhood parks. This bill would
require HCD, in conjunction with the Department of Parks and
Recreation (DPR), to award grants to park-deficient cities and
counties with a current HCD-approved housing element that have
issued building permits for specified affordable housing units.
Grant amounts would be determined as a per-bedroom incentive for
each unit restricted to very low- and low-income households. AB
1252 also authorizes additional bonus fund awards for
jurisdictions that have met or exceeded housing production
thresholds established by HCD.
The Housing-Related Parks Program established in this bill is
based upon the Workforce Housing Reward Program (WHRP), which
was established under the last housing bond, Proposition 46 of
2002. The WHRP, administered by HCD, provided infrastructure
grants to cities and counties that issued building permits for
the new construction of affordable housing units. While local
governments could use the grants for any capital expenditure,
roughly 25% of the funds were used for park improvements.
Proposition 46 funds for this program have been depleted.
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AB 1252 (Caballero)
Staff notes that SB 77, the proposed budget bill, no longer
includes an appropriation to the Housing
Urban-Suburban-and-Rural Parks Account for implementation of
this program. Since bond funds are not available for the
2007-08 fiscal year, AB 1252 would result in General Fund costs
of approximately $250,000 to $300,000 for program development.
HCD and DPR would be required to adopt guidelines and criteria
for awarding grants, including the following activities: program
design, establishing timelines, interdepartmental consultation,
stakeholder meetings, and development of a Notice of Funding
Availability (NOFA). Staff notes that full year staffing cost
pressures of $637,000 would remain until the Legislature
appropriates funds for the program (2 PY at HCD, plus an
interdepartmental contract with DPR for $350,000). Ongoing
activities include program marketing and implementation,
reviewing applications and awarding grants, and ongoing program
monitoring. These administrative costs would be covered by bond
funds, once they are appropriated by the Legislature.
HCD's projections for the program assume that there would be
five rounds of funding, averaging $40 million each. Based upon
experience with the WHRP, HCD anticipates approximately 70
contracts per NOFA, for an average grant award of approximately
$570,000.
Staff notes that SB 732 (Steinberg), currently pending in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee, would also establish a
program for allocating the $200 million made available in
Proposition 1C's urban-suburban-rural account. SB 732 would
distribute these funds on a competitive basis, pursuant to
guidelines adopted by an inter-agency Sustainable Communities
Council. While SB 732 and AB 1252 bill take different
approaches in awarding housing-related parks funds, Senator
Steinberg and Caballero have agreed to work together to create
one program that equally supports affordable housing and parks.