“To establish a waiver program to allow for ZIP Code localization area median income calculations, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish, not later than 90 days after enactment, the Area Median Income Localization Waiver program, under which any applying county government (or equivalent) receives an automatic waiver. The waiver permits area median income calculations for 11 covered HUD and USDA housing programs—including public housing, Section 8 rental assistance, HOME Investment Partnerships, Section 202 supportive housing for the elderly (12 U.S.C. 1701q), Section 811 supportive housing for persons with disabilities, and rural rental housing assistance—using (1) a ZIP Code as the geographic area, (2) a group of bordering counties, or (3) the program's original statutory method. (Area median income determines income eligibility limits and rental contributions for very low-income households in these programs.)
This section directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to conduct a study to (1) identify alternative methods for calculating area median income (AMI) and alternative metrics to increase housing affordability for low-income families in mountain communities and (2) evaluate the impact of factoring roommates into AMI calculations for seasonal workers on housing assistance. The Secretary must submit a report to the House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs—and make it publicly available—not later than two years after enactment of this Act. The report must summarize significant findings; incorporate recommendations from prior reports on AMI use; assess the affordable housing crisis in mountain communities (particularly those receiving HUD's high housing cost adjustment, i.e., an upward AMI adjustment in high-cost areas), including rent burden comparisons for very low-income households and seasonal workers; evaluate effects of such adjustments on income limits, rent prices, and maximum rents under IRC §§42 (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) and 142 (tax-exempt housing bonds); and provide recommendations to reform or eliminate AMI use or leverage existing HUD authorities to improve affordability for low-income and seasonal workers in those communities.
This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including "(1) area median income," meaning the median income for an area as used in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)), median family income, or any similar metric used by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to refer to median income levels for HUD programs; "(2) high housing cost adjustment," meaning an adjustment for high housing costs, high construction costs, high costs of living, or similar factors used by HUD to increase income limits in high-cost areas; "(3) Secretary," meaning the Secretary of HUD; and "(4) mountain communities," meaning any rural area located in the Mountain Division within the Census Bureau's Western Region.