§ 42-55.1-1. Rhode Island housing trust fund - Creation. (a) There is created a trust fund to be known as the "Rhode Island housing trust fund" which shall be administered by the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation without liability on the part of the state beyond the amounts paid into and earned by the housing trust fund.

(b) The housing trust fund shall consist of five million dollars ($5,000,000), fifty percent (50%) of which will be set aside, within thirty (30) days of June 10, 1988, and the remaining fifty percent (50%) will be set aside on or before November 1, 1988, by the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation from its existing housing endowment fund, and of all other monies paid into and received by the housing trust fund, and of any property and securities as may be acquired by and through the use of monies belonging to the housing trust fund, and of all interest earned upon monies, property, and securities belonging to the housing trust fund. All monies in the housing trust fund shall be mingled and undivided. Additional monies for the housing trust fund created hereby may only be designated by an act of the general assembly, but in no event shall any contribution by the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation exceed sixty percent (60%) of the available funds for distribution from its housing endowment fund.

(c) All monies received by the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation for account of the housing trust fund shall, upon receipt, be deposited by the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation in a clearance account in a bank in this state.

(d) Monies in the housing trust fund shall be used exclusively for the development and preservation of housing affordable to low and moderate income persons and families in Rhode Island as follows:

(1) Thirty-three and one-third percent (33 1/3%) in any one fiscal year of the monies in the housing trust fund shall be used to provide financial assistance to mutual housing associations, nonprofit housing development corporations, and limited equity housing cooperatives;

(2) Thirty-three and one-third percent (33 1/3%) in any one fiscal year of the monies in the housing trust fund shall be used to provide financial assistance to for-profit corporations, associations, and partnerships;

(3) Thirty-three and one-third percent (33 1/3%) in any one fiscal year of the monies in the housing trust fund shall be used to provide financial assistance to those corporations, partnerships, associations, cooperatives, or other organizations set forth in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, whether profit or nonprofit, as the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation shall determine based upon its rules and regulations. In the award of those funds, priority shall be given to the following factors:

(i) Housing which provides the longest term of affordability,

(ii) Housing which will be produced at the lowest cost per unit consistent with standards set by the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation,

(iii) Housing which provides the greatest number of units for families, and

(iv) Housing which is located in areas that best provide for fair housing opportunities;

(4) In order to finance housing under clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection which could not otherwise be funded because of a lack of monies in the balance of the housing trust fund, the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation, in its discretion, may allocate up to thirty percent (30%) of the funds available in any one fiscal year under clause (1) of this subsection to housing funded under clauses (2) and (3) of this subsection and up to thirty percent (30%) of the funds available in any one fiscal year under clause (2) to housing funded under clauses (1) and (3); provided, that any reallocation of funds under clause (1) of this subsection shall be replaced by monies allocated to clause (2) of this subsection in the subsequent fiscal year and any reallocation of funds under clause (2) of this subsection shall be replaced by monies allocated from clause (1) of this subsection in the subsequent fiscal year.

(e) No later than October 1, 1989, the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation will set aside and appropriate the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) from its existing housing endowment fund in order to recapitalize the housing trust fund as provided for in subsection (b).

History of Section. (P.L. 1988, ch. 617, § 1; P.L. 1989, ch. 296, § 1; P.L. 1990, ch. 431, § 4.)