State Legislative Update - Spring 2019

The 54th Legislature - 1st Regular Session is in its fourth month, and there have been 1,289 bills posted this session altogether, with 46 bills passed into law and one vetoed by Governor Ducey as of this posting. This year, there is a great deal of momentum for housing issues, which has led to substantial bipartisan legislation relevant to the Arizona Department of Housing and housing advocates.

• Two bills look to create a state tax credit for affordable housing: HB 2365 and HB 2736; they both have advanced past committee but would still need to get through the House, Senate, and Governor’s desk to become law.

• Senate Bill 1300 expands on existing tax exemption statute for low-income housing, by modifying the requirements to qualify for tax exempt status.

• SB 1098 seeks to establish the Housing Assistance Pilot Program and would also create a correlating housing assistance advisory board consisting of the directors of the Department of Housing, Corrections, Economic Security, and AHCCCS. $5 million would be appropriated to the board in FY19-20, with the board then awarding grants to be spent specifically on certain populations.

• SB 1471 would supplement funding for those same purposes by creating a new funding source – tax collections on non-resident sales of real property located in Arizona. Of the tax collections, up to $10 million annually would be deposited to the Housing Trust Fund, with the requirement that the monies be spent on specific populations. Any additional tax collections beyond $10 million would be deposited to the state general fund.

As it currently stands, there are two bills relevant to manufactured housing that are still alive.

• House Bill 2430 (Mobile homes; taxes) mandates that a person who owns a mobile home that is permanently affixed to real property shall (taking the place of “may”) file an affidavit of affixture with the county recorder of the county in which the real property is located.

• SB 1066 defines “open construction” and “closed construction” related to panelized structures. Additionally, the bill seeks to include commercial closed construction structures under the definition of “factory-built building”, which would subject those structures to regulation by the Arizona Department of Housing.

Aside from current legislation, there may also be efforts made in the budget process to restore the Housing Trust Fund to previous funding levels.

Housing Matters | Spring 2019