RHB/7/17
Sponsored by Aarav Patel, Rithvik Siddenki of Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences
This legislation was filed in the Economic and Community Development category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH LEGISLATURE |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this bill, unless the context requires otherwise, shall be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Construction - The process of creating units. |
| 5 | a) High Density Housing - Housing developments with a minimum density per acre of 120 percent |
| 6 | of the maximum residential density allowed under the local zoning ordinance and at least 24 |
| 7 | dwelling units per acre. Examples include apartment complexes. |
| 8 | b) Housing Authority - Already established governmental organizations that administer public |
| 9 | housing programs, manage Section 8 vouchers, develop community housing strategies, ensure |
| 10 | housing compliance, and provide tenant support services to address housing needs in their |
| 11 | respective jurisdictions. |
| 12 | c) Local Municipalities - A governing body with legislative and executive authority over a certain |
| 13 | area. |
| 14 | d) Private Companies - Non-governmental entities engaged in the construction and management |
| 15 | of high density subsidized housing projects. |
| 16 | e) Subsidized housing - Housing that permits government financial assistance to relieve the |
| 17 | housing costs and expenses for people who qualify for housing vouchers under Section 8. |
| 18 | f) Units - A building or the part of a building that is intended to be used as a home, residence, or |
| 19 | sleeping place. |
| 20 | g) Zoning Ordinance - A statute that helps determine what a property in a specific geographic area |
| 21 | can be used for. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Section 2: This bill shall provide the incentive of government loans with 0% interest for a set time |
| 24 | for private companies constructing high density subsidized housing. The period of time for the loan |
| 25 | to be repaid will be set via contract as is standard in all loans. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Section 3: Housing accessibility is a current issue throughout Tennessee. In particular, subsidized |
| 28 | housing can be difficult to secure in metropolitan areas where most high density housing is |
| 29 | constructed, causing low-income residents to be pushed out of cities because of increased housing |
| 30 | costs. This bill shall alleviate the problem of the unavailability of subsidized housing in Tennessee |
| 31 | while lightening the burden of the government in constructing such housing. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Section 4: The bill shall not supersede TN13-7-201, the Grant of Power. The Grant of Power is a |
| 34 | section of Tennessee Code Annotated that states that the zoning ordinance can modulate the |
| 35 | “location, height, bulk, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures''; the amount |
| 36 | of lot that can be used; the sizes of accessible space; the amount of population; and the usage of |
| 37 | those buildings. This means that local municipalities can determine where high-density subsidized |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Section 5: Once a building has been constructed using funding from an interest-free loan, regular |
| 40 | inspections enforced by local housing authorities shall be conducted over first ten years during |
| 41 | which the building has tenants. If the landlord is in good standing with the tenants within that |
| 42 | time, this bill shall allow 20% of the initial loan amount to be forgiven or refunded. |
| 43 | |
| 44 | Section 6: If private companies are found using a building constructed with an interest-free load |
| 45 | for purposes other than creating or maintaining subsidized housing, they shall receive a fine of |
| 46 | 15% of their initial loan amount. If private companies do not repay the loan in the contractually |
| 47 | bound time frame, the government retains the right to seize the property and/or take legal action. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | Section 7: This bill shall allocate funding from the state budget to support its implementation and |
| 50 | administration, with revenue generated from fines and repayment of loans to offset costs. Most of |
| 51 | this budget already exists from government funds that are used to build subsidized housing. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | Section 8: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. |
| 54 | |
| 55 | Section 9: This act shall go into effect immediately upon becoming a law. |
| 56 |