§46-15.1 - Housing; county powers.

§46-15.1 Housing; county powers. [Repeal
and reenactment on June 30, 2015. L 2009, c 141, §3] (a) Any law
to the contrary notwithstanding, any county shall have and may exercise the
same powers, subject to applicable limitations, as those granted the Hawaii
housing finance and development corporation pursuant to chapter 201H insofar as
those powers may be reasonably construed to be exercisable by a county for the
purpose of developing, constructing, and providing low- and moderate-income
housing; provided that no county shall be empowered to cause the State to issue
general obligation bonds to finance a project pursuant to this section;
provided further that county projects shall be granted an exemption from
general excise or receipts taxes in the same manner as projects of the Hawaii
housing finance and development corporation pursuant to section 201H-36; and
provided further that section 201H-16 shall not apply to this section unless
federal guidelines specifically provide local governments with that authorization
and the authorization does not conflict with any state laws. The powers shall
include the power, subject to applicable limitations, to:

(1) Develop and construct dwelling units, alone or in
partnership with developers;

(2) Acquire necessary land by lease, purchase,
exchange, or eminent domain;

(3) Provide assistance and aid to a public agency or
other person in developing and constructing new housing and rehabilitating
existing housing for elders of low- and moderate-income, other persons of low-
and moderate-income, and persons displaced by any governmental action, by
making long-term mortgage or interim construction loans available;

(4) Contract with any eligible bidders to provide for
construction of urgently needed housing for persons of low- and
moderate-income;

(5) Guarantee the top twenty-five per cent of the
principal balance of real property mortgage loans, plus interest thereon, made
to qualified borrowers by qualified lenders;

(6) Enter into mortgage guarantee agreements with appropriate
officials of any agency or instrumentality of the United States to induce those
officials to commit to insure or to insure mortgages under the National Housing
Act, as amended;

(7) Make a direct loan to any qualified buyer for the
downpayment required by a private lender to be made by the borrower as a
condition of obtaining a loan from the private lender in the purchase of
residential property;

(8) Provide funds for a share, not to exceed fifty
per cent, of the principal amount of a loan made to a qualified borrower by a
private lender who is unable otherwise to lend the borrower sufficient funds at
reasonable rates in the purchase of residential property; and

(9) Sell or lease completed dwelling units.

For purposes of this section, a limitation is
applicable to the extent that it may reasonably be construed to apply to a
county.

(b) Each county shall issue affordable housing
credits to the department of Hawaiian home lands with respect to existing and
future Hawaiian home lands projects upon a request for such credits by the
department of Hawaiian home lands. The credits shall be transferable and shall
be issued on a one-unit for one-unit basis. The credits may be applied
county-wide within the same county in which the credits were earned to satisfy
affordable housing obligations imposed by the county on market priced
residential and non-residential developments.

(1) Authorize and issue bonds under chapter 47 and
chapter 49 to provide moneys to carry out the purposes of this section or
section 46-15.2, including the satisfaction of any guarantees made by the
county pursuant to this section;

(2) Appropriate moneys of the county to carry out the
purposes of this section;

(3) Obtain insurance and guarantees from the State or
the United States, or subsidies from either;

(4) Designate, after holding a public hearing on the
matter and with the approval of the respective council, any lands owned by it
for the purposes of this section;

(5) Provide interim construction loans to
partnerships of which it is a partner and to developers whose projects qualify
for federally assisted project mortgage insurance, or other similar programs of
federal assistance for persons of low and moderate income; and

(6) Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 as are
necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(d) The provisions of this section shall be
construed liberally so as to effectuate the purpose of this section in
facilitating the development, construction, and provision of low- and
moderate-income housing by the various counties.

(e) For purposes of this section, "low
and moderate income housing" means any housing project that meets the
definition of "low- and moderate-income housing project" in section
39A-281. [L 1974, c 179, §2; am L 1977, c 207, §2; am L 1980, c 190, §1; am L
1981, c 39, §1; am L 1982, c 118, §1; am L 1987, c 80, §1 and c 337, §4; am L
1989, c 69, §2; am L 1990, c 67, §8; am L 1997, c 350, §6; am L 2005, c 196,
§26(b); am L 2006, c 180, §16; am L 2007, c 37, §1 and c 249, §8; am L 2009, c
141, §1]

Note

L 1997, c 350, §§14
and 15 purport to amend this section.

Cross References

Concurrent
processing, see §46-15.7.

Facilitated
application process, see §201-62.

Law Journals and Reviews

The Scramble to
Protect the American Dream in Paradise: Is Affordable Housing Possible in
Hawaii? 10 HBJ No. 13, at pg. 37.