California Proposing Changes in Tax Credit Regulations for 2010

After holding hearings around the state, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) is looking to finalize and adopt several changes it proposed to its tax credit regulations for 2010. Among the changes under consideration were:

• Increase the housing goal thresholds for single room occupancies (SROs) from 10 percent to 15 percent and for special needs housing from 5 percent to 15 percent.
• Require owners and developers to submit placed-in-service (PIS) packages, with service amenity information, within one year of completing construction of their proposed project. The package information would include certificates of occupancy for each building (or a certificate of completion for rehabilitation projects), an audited certification prepared by a CPA, an itemized breakdown of PIS dates, photos of the completed building, requests for insurance forms, a certification from the syndicator of equity raised and syndication costs, a project ownership profile, and a sponsor-signed certification documenting the services currently being provided to the residents with information about the service providers.
• Starting in the second round of 2010, limit the number of awards received by a developer, project applicant, or owner to no more than four per round.
• Establish a new scoring standard for providing high-quality service amenities that improve residents’ quality of life. Physical space for service amenities must be available when the buildings are placed-in-service, must be located inside the project, available within six months of the project’s PIS date, and have a 10-year commitment. Amenities may include, but aren’t limited to: service coordinators, case managers, adult education classes, health and wellness classes, health services, and after-school programs.