Nonprofit Housing Roundtable of Central Florida

NONPROFIT HOUSING ROUNDTABLE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA AGENDA

Wednesday, January 29, 2003, 2003 @ 8:30 A.M.

MISSION: To increase the supply of decent affordable housing provided by nonprofit organizations to low and very low income families through coordination among nonprofits to enhance capabilities, expand funding opportunities, maximize training, and develop new partnerships.

Time (Min)					Agenda Item	

8:00-8:30	Networking between members and guests 	
8:30-8:35	Introduction of members/guests (Katie Porta) 	
8:35-8:40	Approval of minutes
8:40-8:55	Speaker - Dan Coultoff (Gronek)
8:55-9:10	Speaker - 
9:10-9:30	Other Items:  
		County HAC Report
		City of Orlando HAC Report
 		Counseling Collaborative

   New Business:

		Review correspondence

		Next membership meeting -- Wednesday, February 26, 2003 @ 8:30 am 

		Adjourn	(TOTAL MEETING TIME -- 1 HOUR AND 0 MINUTES)

NOTE MEETING LOCATION:

The Orlando Realtors Association, 1330 Lee Road, Orlando, FL

Located on the south side of Lee Road, one mile west of I-4, across from the International House of Pancakes (407-691-7900)

Meetings are usually the last Wednesday of each month, unless scheduled otherwise because of holidays.

Future Meeting Schedule for 2003:

March 26, April 30, May 28, June 25, July 30, August 27, September 24, October 29, November 19, No meeting in December

THE NONPROFIT HOUSING ROUNDTABLE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA - ACTION PLAN

Goal 1. To educate the entire community on the role of the nonprofit sector as an important partner in the housing delivery process.
a. Communicate housing and nonprofit needs to local area government
b. Develop quantifiable goals for the Roundtable to allow for evaluation of this organization's effectiveness.
c. Invite guest speakers to speak monthly. Pick out topic relevant to nonprofit housing providers (i.e. management,
development, underwriting) and have speaker make 30 minute presentation.

Goal 2. To pool skills and resources of nonprofit housing producers and housing support agencies
a. To use the nonprofit Roundtable to gain organizational and functional strength to achieve our mission by
convening regular meetings to share information, and to plan and coordinate activities of the participating
nonprofits

b. To evaluate and prepare an annual plan that quantifies projects and funding needs of the participating nonprofits
and prepare joint funding support request to the various funding entities
c. To promote and support emerging nonprofit housing organizations.

Goal 3. To pursue various partnership opportunities and linkages with for-profit developers and builders.
a. Strengthen relationships between nonprofits and private sector
b. To become active participants in the Homebuilder's association to cultivate support of for-profit developers and
builders and to seek out opportunities for joint-ventures, other business relationships and mentoring.

Goal 4. To pursue activities that would increase the availability of low cost funds to nonprofits.
a. Subscribe to legislative, funding resource. Monitor and report on upcoming funding programs.
b. Develop calendar of funding source with contact, deadline and summary information.

Goal 5. To pursue activities that would encourage governments to provide grants and loans to nonprofits for technical assistance
and housing production.

Nonprofit Housing Roundtable

Meeting Minutes from January 29, 2003 Meeting

Present: John Hazelroth, Jose Irazarry, Teresa Gronske, Kristen Benedetto, Jack Biemiller, Janet Hamer, Fran James, Angela Subbs-Brady, Stacy Stark, Charlene Rose, Linda Linstrum, Jerrie Magruder, Patricia Andrews, Steve Chitwood, Kerwin Mellott, Bonnie McCoy, Jed Baumwell, Lori Solitro, Diane Ledford, Katie Porta, Marilyn Gordon, Cynthia Smith, Lynda Hinckley, Brel Resser, Robert Hafer, Mary S. Droege, Kevin O'Rawe, Sarita Mehta, Olivette Carter, Jerome Berry, Terry Bankston

Agenda Item 1 - Approval of Minutes

Minutes were unanimously approved.

Agenda Item 2 - Gronek (Dan Coultoff)

On-hand was Dan Coultoff from Gronek, an accounting firm in Latham. Dan is an attorney at this firm and specializes in property tax exemptions for affordable housing relating to nonprofit sponsors. Dan talked about issues involving obtaining property tax exemption.

Property tax exemption is provided when the use has explicit purposes.
Each individual organization must apply for the exemption. Typically, this is done at the beginning of the year.
The property must be used for an exempt purpose under the State statute, of which affordable housing is one.
The project cannot be to the benefit of the organization. Provence must be turned back into the property and cannot be used to pay dividends amongst shareholders.
One test for exemption is if the organization stops this service, would public funds be needed to continue it? Letters from the government are helpful that you're meeting their requirements and that there are restrictions on the property.
Must be able to demonstrate of ownership. If the property is leased, there might be an issue regarding ownership and obtaining the exemption.
The procedure involves first applying to the property appraiser. If they deny your request, you then have the option of filing a petition with the Value Adjustment Board. This Board is delegated to a Special Master who hears and makes recommendations. If you do not agree with the Master's findings, you have a 30-day period to file a complaint in Circuit Court. The key is that in Circuit Court, you cannot introduce new information that was not supplied at the Value Adjustment Board. For this reason, it's important to state all of your facts at the Value Adjustment Board.
To decide whether you go to court, is to determine how large the sum of money you are talking about and if the problem will be re-occurring. If the sum of money is relatively small but the organization will be faced with fighting this issue every year, then a decision to move into Circuit Court would be wise.
The best place to argue your case is before Value Adjustment Board.
One of the big issues has been occupancy as of January 1^st. Cities do not allow projects that are not occupied by January 1^st to be exempt for that year. Cities have also taken the liberty of saying that if a unit is not occupied by January 1^st, this unit may not be exempt. Dan recommended that nonprofit organizations try to change the statutes because each and every property has continual vacancy issues and these cannot be avoided. Another idea is that instead of having leases expire on December 31^st, have them expire on January 15^th.
If the service provides assistance for moderate income, low income, and very-low income, it is defined as exempt. You must demonstrate by income certification how the residents fall into these categories. It is best to have some type of statement which is certified under oath. Typically, it would say something like, "I certify the information provided is true", then the individual signs it and it is notarized.

Agenda Item 3 - Miscellaneous Items

Orange County is working on the Housing Assistance Plan which is due out in May.
Seminole County has obligated all of their SHIP funds, however there may be additional funds coming available in April.
HUD stated that the President currently is making a big push for faith-based initiatives and making it easier for these organizations to obtain federal funds. The President also is pushing to allow churches to take a part of their structure and use it for non-church related purposes and obtain federal funds for these. Additionally, HUD is going through a severe budget situation. In particular, public housing has been severely hit between 10 and 30 percent. HUD is trying to rectify the situation but the budget appears to be relatively lean.
Mary Droege reported back on the status of the Housing Task Force for the Disabled. The results are 80 percent complete and the report should be out soon. There was a total of 712 surveys collected and 588 responses were actually used.
Steve Chitwood was on-hand to talk about the Art in Architecture program. This program was sponsored by the Board of Realtors in which four affordable housing units are being constructed. It was recommended that in the future when a house is open, the Roundtable convene its monthly meeting at the site to look at these. Steve mentioned that the Realtor's Association is talking about land trusts to maintain these housing units as affordable in the future. Steve also announced that 215 units for the elderly are open at Crescent Club.
Staff from the City of Orlando indicated they have a new home on W Church Street which shows how energy efficiency can be incorporated in the housing design. This unit will be open for one year.
Fran James was on-hand and has been working closely to monitor the situation with the Sadowski Trust Funds. The Governor has proposed to eliminate the trust fund budget and to fund housing from a percentage of this budget on an annual basis that must be appropriated each and every year. This would be devastating to the affordable housing community and letters should be sent immediately State Legislators. Fran suggested that interested parties go to the website for the Florida Housing Coalition and they have a sample letter there. It should be noted that the Roundtable has already contacted all its State Legislators by letter regarding this issue.
Fran also mentioned that she is working to organize nonprofit housing developers throughout the state. For those interested parties, contact Fran at 407-831-8740. She is hoping that this organization can carry their needs and special circumstances to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and ultimately affect policy.

This concludes the end of the meeting minutes. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 26^th, 2003, at 8:30 am, at The Orlando Realtors Association, 1330 Lee Road, Orlando, FL (407-691-7900), located on south side of Lee Road, one mile west of I-4, across from International House of Pancakes.

    

   

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