Res 1255-2020

By Council Members Brannan, Ampry-Samuels, Cornegy, Salamanca, Ayala and Kallos Whereas, The area median income (AMI) is used in federally funded housing programs to determine if a household meets income eligibility and the amount of rent a household is charged to reside in an apartment; and Whereas, Every year the United States (U.S.) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines AMI for all cities in the United States; and Whereas, The AMI for the New York City area incorporates not only the median earnings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and the Bronx but it also includes Westchester and Rockland counties who have higher median incomes than the five boroughs; and Whereas, The higher housing cost adjustment is one of the five adjustments a jurisdiction applies to the AMI to determine the very low-income limit; and Whereas, High housing cost adjustments are usually applied in areas where the cost of housing is considerably higher compared to the median income; and Whereas, HUD increases the income limit requirements in high cost adjustment areas, such as New York City, so that more households can qualify for assistance for affordable housing units that are produced through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program; and Whereas, According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, if the high housing cost adjustments could be restricted in determining AMI for Low Income Housing Tax Credit Properties, more affordable units could be made available for lower-income households; and Whereas, H.R. 4984, the Affordable Housing and Area Median Income Fairness Act of 2019, sponsored by Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, currently pending in the House of Representatives, would preserve the affordability of units financed under LIHTC by exempting jurisdictions from using the high housing cost adjustment to calculate area median income (AMI) unless the jurisdiction petitions HUD to apply such adjustment to their county or city ; and Whereas, H.R. 4984, would remove Westchester and Rockland Counties from New York City's AMI; and Whereas, H.R. 4984, would also require a study to determine alternate methods of calculating AMI and it would authorize $25 billion over the next decade to the National Housing Trust Fund, the HOME Investments Partnership program, and the Community Development Block Grant program to create new affordable housing; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the New York City Council calls on Congress to pass and the President to sign, H.R 4984, in relation to increasing the supply and affordability of certain housing and to adjust calculations of area median income for purposes of Federal low-income housing assistance, and for other purposes. JLC LS 13131 2/07/2020