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9. State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Funds and Affordable Housing Background: The Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) is a public corporation that is housed with- in the Department of Economic Opportunity. The goal of the FHFC is to increase the supply of safe, af- fordable housing for individuals and families with very low to moderate incomes. To do this, the FHFC uses federal and state resources to finance the development of affordable homes and assist first-time homebuy- ers through various programs. Some of the key programs that are administered by the FHFC include the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program, which receives approximately two-thirds of the funding; the State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) Program, which receives about 20 percent of the funding, and other programs, including the Predevelopment Loan Program (PLP), the Homeownership Assistance Program (HAP), the Affordable Housing Guarantee Program, and the Catalyst Training and Technical Assistance Program. The FHFC receives funding for its affordable housing programs from documentary stamp tax revenues pursuant to the William E. Sadowski Act ("Act"). The Act calls for funds to be generated from: (a) additional revenues from a 10 -cent increase in the documentary stamp tax rate imposed on real estate trans- fers; and (b) a re -allocation of ten cents of the existing documentary stamp tax revenues from general revenue to the affordable housing trust funds beginning in FY 1995-96. The funds are then distributed to the State Housing Trust Fund and the Local Government Housing Trust Fund. In years past, the Florida Legislature has transferred the unused funds in the State Housing Trust Fund and the Local Government Housing Trust Fund to the General Revenue Fund pursuant to Section 215.32(2)(b) 4.a., Florida Statutes. This has significantly impacted local governments and their ability to assist their con- stituents by providing the above -referenced programs as they were designed. Position: Indian River County BCC SUPPORTS allocating the full amount of dedicated documentary tax reve- nues for state and local affordable housing programs; SUPPORTS investing in affordable housing to create jobs in home repair, hardening homes, retrofitting and constructing affordable rental units, and lowering the energy costs to make housing more affordable; and SUPPORTS exempting the State Housing Trust Fund and the Lo- cal Government Housing Trust Fund from a provision authorizing the Legislature, in the General Appropria- tions Act, to transfer unappropriated cash balances from specified trust funds to the Budget Stabilization Fund and General Revenue Fund, etc. No legislation requiring the full dedication of doc stamps was passed. The total allocation for this year is $200.6 Million, which was an increase from last fiscal year (last FY was $123.6 Million). However, $115 Million has been designated for communities impacted by Hurricane Michael last year. Please note, if fully funded with no sweep the total amount would have been $331 Million. 89 10