90-6-148. State workforce housing incentive to community reinvestment organizations. (1) A community reinvestment organization established in 90-6-146 that contains communities in the county that have a population of 15,000 or less and are located within a 30-mile radius of a state-owned facility that houses at least 100 state inmates or behavioral health patients is eligible to apply for funds from the appropriation provided for in section 20, Chapter 774, Laws of 2023.

Terms Used In Montana Code 90-6-148

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Board: means the board of housing created in 2-15-1814. See Montana Code 90-6-103
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Department: means the department of commerce provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 18. See Montana Code 90-6-103
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201

(2)(a) The governor’s office of economic development shall allocate funds to applying and qualifying counties within community reinvestment organizations proportionally to the average number of state inmates or behavioral health patients in that state-owned facility in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021, and the number of employees in that county that work in the state-owned facilities that serve those inmates or patients.

(b)The department of commerce and the board of investments shall assist the governor’s office of economic development in the distribution of funds pursuant to this section.

(3)Each community reinvestment organization that receives state workforce housing incentive funds shall create a state workforce housing CRO revolving account for the deposit and distribution of funds to qualifying and participating counties within the community reinvestment organization’s region.

(4)(a) Money in a state workforce housing CRO revolving account must be used as follows:

(i)95% or more must be distributed to qualifying and participating counties to be used to assist eligible households in purchasing attainable workforce housing as provided in this section; and

(ii)5% or less must be dedicated to startup and administrative costs of the community reinvestment organization and may be used to create a foreclosure mitigation set-aside fund to be held locally.

(b)Money in a state workforce housing CRO revolving account may not be used for preconstruction, development, or construction-related purposes.

(c)If a county elects not to participate in the program under 90-6-141 through 90-6-149, the money allocated to that county must be distributed proportionally to the remaining counties qualifying and participating in the program within the same region as the nonparticipating county.

(5)An incorporated city, consolidated city-county, or county may contribute funds to its state workforce housing CRO revolving account as an optional local government investment or may receive matching funds from the workforce housing appropriation in section 15, Chapter 774, Laws of 2023.

(6)Money used from the state workforce housing CRO revolving account to assist an eligible household may not exceed 30% of the total purchase price.

(7)(a) Housing purchased using money from the state workforce housing CRO revolving account must have a deed limitation restricting the equitable value to the eligible household. The rate of appreciation on the deed-restricted home may not be greater than 1% a year.

(b)Housing purchased using money from the state workforce housing CRO revolving account must have a deed limitation restriction to ensure that a resident of the housing is employed at a state-owned facility that, on an annual average, houses at least 100 state inmates or behavioral health patients and the state-owned facility is located in a county that has a population that does not exceed 15,000 inhabitants.

(8)A community reinvestment organization is encouraged to develop policies to support homeowners buying out the deed restriction so the revolving account can be utilized to buy down the cost of additional homes for other eligible households.