Existing law creates the Housing Division in the Department of Business and Industry and charges the Division, among other duties, with responsibility for increasing the availability of decent, safe and sanitary housing for persons of low and moderate income in this State. (NRS 232.510; chapter 319 of NRS) Existing law creates the position of Housing Advocate within the Division and establishes the duties for the position, which include providing information and assistance to persons who reside in affordable housing and manufactured housing. (NRS 319.141) Section 1 of this bill renames the position of Housing Advocate as the Housing Liaison. Existing law requires the Division to create and maintain a statewide low-income housing database. The database is required to include certain information relating to low-income housing, including compilations and analysis of demographic, economic and housing data from a variety of sources. (NRS 319.143) Section 2 of this bill requires the inclusion of any survey conducted by the Division in the database. Section 2 also revises the data that is required to be included in the database by: (1) changing the measure for determining the number of households in various population groups experiencing high housing costs from 50 to 30 percent of household income; (2) increasing from 2 years to 3 years the length of the planning period for identifying when subsidized units are forecast to convert to market-rate units; and (3) adding information regarding certain multi-family residential housing. Section 2 further requires the Division, on or before December 31 of each year, to analyze the data in the database and prepare and post on its website a report of its analysis. Existing law creates the Account for Affordable Housing in the State General Fund, which is required to be administered by the Division, and prescribes the distribution and use of money in the Account. (NRS 319.500, 319.510) Under existing law, the costs to create and maintain the statewide low-income housing database are required to be paid from the Account up to a maximum of $175,000 per year. (NRS 319.143, 319.510) Sections 2 and 3 of this bill: (1) require payment from the Account of the costs to prepare the new annual report required by section 2; and (2) change the maximum annual amount authorized from the Account for the payment of costs related to the database from the fixed amount of $175,000 to not more than 6 percent of the money deposited in the Account in each fiscal year. Existing law also authorizes the Division to expend not more than $40,000 per year or an amount equal to 6 percent of money received pursuant to the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Act, whichever is greater, as reimbursement for administering the Account and that federal money. (NRS 319.510; 42 U.S.C. §§ 12701 et seq.) Section 3: (1) eliminates the authority of the Division to receive reimbursement from the Account for administering that federal money; and (2) changes the maximum amount authorized from the Account as reimbursement for administering the Account to not more than 6 percent of the money deposited in the Account in each fiscal year. Existing law requires the Division to distribute a certain portion of money in the Account to certain charitable organizations, housing authorities and local governments for the acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing for eligible families, subject to certain requirements. One such eligibility requirement in existing law is that not less than 15 percent of the units acquired, constructed or rehabilitated be affordable to persons whose income is at or below the federally designated level signifying poverty. (NRS 319.510) Section 3: (1) changes the income level for that requirement to at or below 30 percent of the median monthly gross household income for the applicable county; and (2) clarifies that the money is authorized to be distributed to one or more of the types of entities that are eligible recipients. Section 3 also eliminates the eligibility requirement in existing law that a local government sponsor such a project. Existing law establishes three tiers of affordable housing for various purposes in existing law and defines “affordable housing” as housing that falls within any of the three tiers. (NRS 232.860, 244.189, 244.287, 268.058, 268.190, 278.0105, 279.385, 279A.020, 279B.020, 315.9625, 319.042) Under existing law, the tiers are based on both household income and the costs of housing as a percentage of that income. With respect to household income: (1) “tier one affordable housing” is housing for a household which has a total monthly gross income that is equal to not more than 60 percent of the median monthly gross household income for the county in which the housing is located, which is commonly known as the area median household income; (2) “tier two affordable housing” is housing for a household which has a total monthly gross income that is equal to more than 60 percent but not more than 80 percent of the area median household income; and (3) “tier three affordable housing” is housing for a household which has a total monthly gross income that is equal to more than 80 percent but not more than 120 percent of the area median household income. In addition, with respect to the costs of housing, affordable housing under existing law is housing that costs not more than 30 percent of the total monthly gross household income of the household with an income at the maximum percentage of the area median household income for the tier. (NRS 278.01902, 278.01904, 278,01906) Section 4 of this bill creates a new tier of affordable housing, to be known as “tier one affordable housing,” that addresses housing for a household that has a total monthly gross income that is equal to not more than 30 percent of the area median household income. As a result of the creation of this new tier of affordable housing, section 7 of this bill renames “tier one affordable housing” in existing law as “tier two affordable housing” and changes the percentage range for median income for that tier to more than 30 percent but not more than 60 percent of the area median household income. Section 9 of this bill renames “tier two affordable housing” in existing law, for which the percentage range for median income is more than 60 percent but not more than 80 percent of the area median household income, as “workforce affordable housing.” Section 8 of this bill renames “tier three affordable housing” in existing law, for which the percentage range for median income is more than 80 percent but not more than 120 percent of the area median household income, as “attainable affordable housing.” Section 5 of this bill applies the newly defined term in section 4 to the provisions of existing law relating to planning and zoning. Sections 6 and 11 of this bill make conforming changes to existing law to reflect the new tier. Existing law requires the governing body of certain cities or counties to submit to the Division annual progress reports relating to affordable housing. (NRS 278.235) Existing law requires: (1) the inclusion of these reports in the statewide low-income housing database; and (2) the Division to compile and post these reports on its Internet website. (NRS 278.235, 319.143) Section 10 of this bill moves the deadline for: (1) the submission of the reports to the Division from July 15 to March 15; and (2) the posting of the compilation of the reports by the Division from August 15 to April 15. Because the change in the deadlines is not effective until October 1, 2025, pursuant to section 14 of this bill, the new deadlines apply initially to the reports submitted in 2026.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 319.141, 319.143, 319.510, 278.010, 278.0105, 278.01902, 278.01904, 278.01906, 278.235, 375.070
BDR: 319.141, 319.143, 319.510, 278.010, 278.0105, 278.01902, 278.01904, 278.01906, 278.235, 375.070