There shall be a Southampton Affordable Housing Trust, the purpose of which shall be to provide for the preservation and creation of affordable housing in the Town of Southampton for the benefit of low- and moderate-income households. The Trust shall be governed by a Board of Trustees in accordance with MGL c. 44, § 55C, and the authority granted by Town Meeting, as revised from time to time.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Special Town Meeting of the Town of Southampton 12-13-2022 by Art. 14. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
There shall be a five-member Board of Trustees ("Board"), of whom one shall be a member of the Select Board, and four qualified residents who would bring to the Trust relevant personal and/or professional experience, knowledge or interest in real estate, finance, affordable housing, banking, architecture, social services, or the like.
B.
Trustees shall be appointed, or reappointed, by the Select Board, for two-year terms, with the exception that two initial appointments shall be made for one year only so as to allow staggered terms. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the Select Board from appointing the Town Administrator as an ex officio member of the Board, without the power to vote.
The Trustees are hereby authorized to execute a declaration of trust and certificate of trust for the Southampton Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to be recorded with the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds and filed with the Hampshire Registry District of the Land Court.
The powers of the Trustees, all of which shall be carried on in furtherance of the purposes set forth in MGL c. 44, § 55C, shall include the following:
A.
To accept and receive real property, personal property or money, by gift, grant, contribution, devise or transfer from any person, firm, corporation or other public or private entity, including but not limited to money, grants of funds or other property tendered to the Trust in connection with any bylaw or any general or special law or any other source, including money from MGL c. 44B;
B.
To purchase and retain real or personal property, including, without restriction, investments that yield a high rate of income or no income; each purchase shall be approved by the Select Board, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld; should the Select Board disapprove a purchase, its reasoning shall be explained in open meeting;
C.
To sell, lease, exchange, transfer or convey any personal, mixed, or real property at public auction or by private contract for such consideration and on such terms as to credit or otherwise, and to make such contracts and enter into such undertaking relative to Trust property as the Board deems advisable notwithstanding the length of any such lease or contract;
D.
To execute, acknowledge and deliver deeds, assignments, transfers, pledges, leases, covenants, contracts, promissory notes, releases, grant agreements and other instruments, sealed or unsealed, necessary, proper or incident to any transaction in which the Board engages for the accomplishment of the purposes of the Trust;
E.
To employ advisors and agents, such as accountants, appraisers and lawyers, as the Board deems necessary;
F.
To pay reasonable compensation and expenses to all advisors and agents and to apportion such compensation between income and principal as the Board deems advisable;
G.
To apportion receipts and charges between incomes and principal as the Board deems advisable, to amortize premiums and establish funds for such purpose, and to create reserves for depreciation depletion or otherwise;
H.
To participate in any reorganization, recapitalization, merger or similar transactions; and to give proxies or powers of attorney with or without power of substitution to vote any securities or certificates of interest; and to consent to any contract, lease, mortgage, purchase or sale of property, by or between any corporation and any other corporation or person;
I.
To deposit any security with any protective reorganization committee, and to delegate to such committee such powers and authority with relation thereto as the Board may deem proper and to pay, out of Trust property, such portion of expenses and compensation of such committee as the Board may deem necessary and appropriate;
J.
To carry property for accounting purposes other than acquisition date values;
K.
To make distributions or divisions of principal in kind;
L.
To comprise, attribute, defend, enforce, release, settle or otherwise adjust claims in favor or against the Trust, including claims for taxes, and to accept any property, either in total or partial satisfaction of any indebtedness or other obligation, and subject to the provisions of MGL c. 44, § 55C, to continue to hold the same for such period of time as the Board may deem appropriate;
M.
To manage or improve real property; and to abandon any property which the Board determined not to be worth retaining;
N.
To hold all or part of the Trust property uninvested for such purposes and for such time as the Board may deem appropriate; and
O.
To extend the time for payment of any obligation to the Trust.
The extent of borrowing is limited to 80% of the Trust's assets, and any purchase, sale or lease of any interest in real property requires a two-thirds vote of the Board of Trustees.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, all moneys paid to the Trust in accordance with any zoning 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. 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.
Money received from MGL c. 44B (Community Preservation Act) shall be used exclusively for community housing and shall remain subject to all the rules, regulations and limitations of that chapter when expended by the Trust, and such funds shall be accounted for separately by the Trust; and provided further, that at the end of each fiscal year, the Trust shall ensure that all expenditures of funds received from said MGL c. 44B are reported to the Southampton Community Preservation Committee for inclusion in the Community Preservation Initiatives Report, Form CP-3, to the Department of Revenue.
The Trust is a public employer and the members of the Board are public employees for purposes of MGL c. 258.
The Trust shall be deemed a municipal agency and the Trustees special municipal employees, for purposes of MGL c. 268A.
The books and records of the Trust shall be audited annually by an independent auditor in accordance with accepted accounting practices.