2018-06-27-CEC-ATM-rpt (Combined Report with Updates & Errata)

Browse Search

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMMITTEE REPORT TO 2018 ATM(incorporating Updates&Errata) capital improvements that are eligible under the statute allows the Town to keep existing units functional and in compliance with legal standards. Appropriation of FY2013 CPA funds, along with a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), allowed the Town to complete four new handicapped-accessible units at Greeley Village in 2016 which were added to Lexington's SH1. The Lexington Housing Assistance Board (LexHAB) is unique to Lexington. It was created in 1983 by the Selectmen, who were concerned about the need for affordable and transitional housing for Lexington residents experiencing economic difficulties. With initial contributions from the developers of the Potter Pond condominium, and later, the Brookhaven Life-Care Living Facility, LexHAB began acquiring rental-housing units, which now total 64. They are administered by the volunteer nine-member Board, which uses rents to maintain and improve the units as needed. LexHAB also maintains a fund balance that may be used to build new units or to purchase units on which the deed restrictions maintaining their affordability may expire. Lexington's SHI. The housing units administered by the LHA and those LexHAB units that have been assigned under the State's lottery procedure all count on Lexington's SHI. Including all rental units, as permitted by statute, the Town's SHI stood at 11.2% at the 2010 census. However, as 75% of the Town's rental units are not actually deed-restricted, the true percentage of Lexington housing units that are affordable to households below the AM1 is closer to 5%. As the Town's inventory of market-rate units increases more rapidly each year than do deed-restricted units, there is concern that by the 2020 census, Lexington's SH1 will fall below the statutorily required 10%. In that event, the statute provides that private developers who deed-restrict 25% of the units in their projects will not be subject to the density restrictions of Lexington's zoning bylaw, allowing them to build larger and more densely sited subdivisions than Lexington would otherwise allow. The Community Preservation Act (CPA) provides that 10% of each year's revenue under the Act (i.e., the designated tax-surcharge revenue, the State contribution, and interest earned on the Community Preservation Fund(CPF)) be allocated for community(affordable) housing. Since Lexington's adoption of the Act in 2006, CPA funds have been the primary means of adding affordable units to Lexington's inventory. Town Meeting has approved LexHAB requests for CPA allocations to purchase and rehabilitate individual homes,which are then deed-restricted and rented to eligible households. In 2012, the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) capped the amount available for any one purchase and rehabilitation project at $525,000. As housing prices in Lexington have continued to rise, this has left few, if any, opportunities to purchase and rehabilitate properties within the guidelines. However, LexHAB has continued to develop new units of affordable housing: • A four-unit rental project on Fairview Avenue, comprising one renovated home and three new units, was financed entirely through LexHAB's existing funds and did not require Town Meeting approval for funding. It was completed in 2017 and is fully occupied. • LexHAB's Local Initiative Project (LIP) application for construction of two three-unit buildings on Lowell Street has now been approved by the Massachusetts DHCD and the Lexington Zoning Board of Appeals, as required by M.G.L. 40B, before construction can begin. CPA funding totaling $1,284,653 has been assembled as follows: (a) $450,000 initially appropriated by the 2012 ATM, Article 8(g), for purchase and rehabilitation of an existing housing unit, which remained unspent when no unit was available at that price; (b) $750,000 appropriated by the 2014 ATM, Article 8(g), specifically for the Lowell Street project; and (c) $84,653 in funds remaining on hand from previous LexHAB projects. As LexHAB must follow municipal bidding requirements, that has been a major driver of the increased cost of this project. LexHAB is seeking supplementary funding under Article 10 (j). • At the 2016 ATM, LexHAB received approval for $185,000 of CPA funding to acquire a one—bedroom affordable unit at the Keeler Faun development on Lowell Street. The purchase was completed in 2017 and the unit is now occupied. 35