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Committee approves bills to modernize municipal and county housing authority statutes
Summary
The State Government committee approved House Bills 90 and 91, which update municipal and county housing authority statutes dating to the 1930s to clarify borrowing, management and recording authority and to require county commission consent for certain recordings and tax abatements.
The State Government committee voted to approve House Bills 90 and 91, bills that update longstanding municipal and county housing authority statutes and clarify what housing authorities may do when partnering with developers.
The bills, presented together as mirror measures, were explained by David Ringelstein, an attorney who said the legislation modernizes statutory language dating to the 1930s so municipal and county housing authorities have clear authority to enter loans, manage projects and work with developers using housing tax credits.
"Long story short, this provides some clarification and cleanup to the housing authorities that are working with developers across the state," Ringelstein said. He said the measures were drafted for the Alabama Association of Housing Authorities and Redevelopment and that the bills distinguish municipal authority (HB 90) from county authority (HB 91).
Committee members asked whether housing authorities could independently make loans and whether there were limits. Ringelstein said housing authorities already have the ability to borrow and the bills do not change broad borrowing authority; lenders and collateral limits would still apply.
Representative Lawrence and others pressed for clarity on taxation and recording. Committee members said they consulted a revenue official who indicated certain recordings by governmental entities were already exempt from taxation; the legislation was amended to address a county request that when a housing authority records a deed or pays mortgage tax, the county commission must consent before county taxes are abated.
The committee approved the bills as substituted. A motion to approve the substitute passed by voice vote with no recorded opposition in the committee transcript.
Votes at a glance: Motion to approve as substituted. Outcome: approved (voice vote). Mover/second: not specified in transcript.
The bills proceed to the next stage of the legislative process. The transcript does not specify enactment dates, specific dollar impacts or which counties/projects would immediately use the clarified authorities.
Clarifying details recorded in committee discussion include that the statutes being modernized originate in the 1930s, that housing authorities already can borrow subject to lender conditions, and that the Alabama Association of Counties requested and the committee added a requirement for county commission consent before certain county tax abatements related to recordings.
Speakers who provided substantive testimony or answers were David Ringelstein (attorney) and Michael Sweet (board member, Alabama Association of Housing Authorities and Redevelopment). Several representatives participated in questioning and motions but the transcript lists motions and voice votes without names for movers/seconders.
The committee record shows a focused discussion on statutory modernization, lending authority, taxation/recording implications and the insertion of county-consent language to protect county taxing interests.
The bills were approved as substituted and recorded as passed by the committee.
