[Adopted 10-3-2006 (Ch. 6, Art. X, of the 2010 Code)]
Pursuant to the authority of MGL c. 44, § 55C, as
adopted by the Municipal Council, there is hereby created a local
municipal affordable housing trust fund to be known as the "Taunton
Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund" (hereinafter "Trust Fund").
The purpose of the Trust Fund shall be:
A.
To receive, hold, invest, and/or expend funds for the acquisition,
rehabilitation, construction, financing or refinancing of property
within the City of Taunton so that such property will be substantially
available as residential property for low- and moderate-income persons
and to provide mechanisms to ensure such use;
B.
To utilize funds for pre-development, environmental and infrastructure
services that allow the City of Taunton to provide or preserve real
property in the City so that such property will be substantially available
as residential property for low- and moderate-income persons and to
further provide mechanisms to ensure such use; and
A.
Composition.
There shall be seven Trustees on the Board of the Trust. Two of the
Trustees shall serve ex officio (with full voting rights), and of
the remaining five, four shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject
to the approval by the Municipal Council, and one member shall be
elected Trustee by the members of the Council from the sitting members.
The ex officio Trustees shall include the Mayor or designee and the
President of the Municipal Council or designee. The remaining Trustees
shall be selected and appointed by the Mayor subject to the approval
of the Municipal Council. In making the appointments, the Mayor shall
endeavor to provide a broad-based membership, including legal, banking,
financial, municipal, real estate, and housing professions. Trustees
shall be noncompensated. Each member shall give faithful bond pursuant
to MGL c. 41, § 109A.
B.
Term of
office. The term of each Trustee serving ex officio shall be coterminous
with the elected office by which he/she attains his/her status as
ex officio Trustee. The term of the Trustee elected by the Municipal
Council from its membership shall also be coterminous with his/her
Council term. To ensure staggered terms, with respect to the initial
Board, two of the remaining Trustees shall serve one year, one shall
serve two years and two shall serve three years.[1]
C.
Organization.
The Trustees shall annually elect one Trustee to serve as Chairperson.
The Chairperson may establish subcommittees and/or ad hoc task-related
committees to carry out the purposes of the Trust Fund. Chairpersons
of the subcommittees may be selected by the members of the subcommittees.
D.
Filling
of vacancies. In the event of a vacancy in the position of Trustee,
the appointment shall be made in the same manner as the original appointment.
Appointments to unexpired terms shall not exceed the expiration period
of the original appointment.
E.
Meetings;
quorum. Meetings of the Trust Fund shall be held on a regular basis.
In any event, the Trustees shall meet quarterly, no less than four
times per calendar year. Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson
or by any two Trustees. Notice of any meeting of the Trust Fund shall
be filed with the City Clerk and posted in accordance with MGL c.
30A, § 18 et seq., the Open Meeting Law. Four Trustees shall
constitute a quorum, but a majority vote of the full membership shall
be required to approve any motion.[2]
The Taunton Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund shall have
the responsibility to support the construction and preservation of
affordable housing in order to secure rental and home ownership opportunities
for the City's low- and moderate-income individuals and families.
The Trust Fund shall have the powers and duties specified in MGL c.
44, § 55C, provided that it shall have no ability to borrow
money or mortgage or pledge Trust assets without prior Municipal Council
approval. It shall have the following additional powers and duties:
A.
To establish criteria and/or qualifications for recipients and expenditures
in accordance with the Trust Fund's above-stated purposes.
B.
To employ professional consultants and full- or part-time staff,
to contract for administrative and support goods and services, and
to expend up to 10% of the Trust Fund's receipts for these purposes.
The City Solicitor shall serve as legal counsel to the Trust. The
Trust may, upon recommendation of the City Solicitor, appoint additional
legal counsel if necessary.
The City of Taunton's Treasurer/Collector shall be the custodian
of the Trust's funds and shall maintain separate accounts and records
for said funds. He or she shall invest funds in the manner authorized
by MGL c. 44, §§ 55, 55A and 55B. Any income or proceeds
received from the investment of funds shall be credited to and become
part of the Trust.
A.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, all moneys
paid to the Trust in accordance with any zoning ordinance or bylaw,
exaction fee, or private contributions shall be paid directly into
the Trust and need not be appropriated or accepted and approved into
the Trust. General revenues appropriated into the Trust become Trust
property, and to be expended these funds need not be further appropriated.
All moneys remaining in the Trust at the end of any fiscal year, whether
or not expended by the Board within one year of the date they were
appropriated into the Trust, remain Trust property.
B.
The Trust is a public employee and the members of the Board are public
employees for purposes of MGL c. 268A.
C.
The Trust shall be deemed a municipal agency and the Trustees special
municipal employees for purposes of MGL c. 268A.
D.
The Trust is exempt from MGL c. 59 and MGL c. 62 and from any other
provisions concerning payment of taxes upon or measured by property
or income imposed by the commonwealth or any political subdivision
thereof.
E.
The books and records of the Trust shall be audited annually by an
independent auditor in accordance with accepted accounting services.
G.
The Trust is a board of the City of Taunton for purposes of MGL c.
30B and MGL c. 40, § 15A, but agreements and conveyances
between the Trust and agencies, boards, commissions, authorities,
departments and public instrumentalities of the City of Taunton shall
be exempt from said MGL c. 30B.
I.
Revenue from the Trust established hereunder shall not be utilized
to subsidize any City departmental budget except to the extent that
the fund may reimburse City departments for the reasonable cost of
providing service to the fund where such cost is documented and the
service is authorized hereby under the terms of this article or for
the Trust to perform its functions.[3]
