There is hereby established a trust to be known as the Springfield Housing Trust Fund (the "Trust"). The purpose of the Trust is to provide for the creation, preservation, rehabilitation, and adaptive rehabilitation of housing in the City of Springfield, for the benefit of low and moderate-income households.
[Adopted 2-7-2022]
A.
The Springfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA) shall administer the Springfield Housing Trust Fund and the SRA Board shall Act as a Board of Trustees for the Trust.
B.
An Advisory Committee shall advise the Board of Trustees on the Trust goals, activities, proposed initiatives, and assist with the review of applications, to advance the mission of the Trust.
C.
The Advisory Committee shall include seven members:
(1)
Ex-Officio - The Mayor of Springfield or designee;
(2)
Ex-Officio - The President of the Springfield City Council or a City Councilor designated by the City Council President;
(3)
Ex-Officio - The Director of Housing of the City of Springfield;
(4)
Two Springfield residents (at least one of whom shall be a tenant);
(5)
Two representatives of Springfield non-profit organizations focused on housing resources;
(6)
One professional in the field of housing or real estate;
(7)
One professional in the field of banking or finance.
D.
Members appointed to the Advisory Committee, other than ex-officio members, shall serve for a term not to exceed two years, but may be re-appointed at the discretion of the appointing authority under this article.
E.
In the event that a designee of a governmental board no longer serves on the board he/she represents, that position shall be vacant and filled by the appropriate appointing authority for the remainder of the term.
A.
The powers of the Board of Trustees, all of which shall be carried out in furtherance of the purposes of Chapter 491 of the Acts of 2004 and this article, may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1)
To make grants and loans upon such terms, as the Board shall, in its sole discretion, deems advisable;
(2)
To accept and receive property, whether real or personal, by gift, grant, devise, or transfer from any person, firm, corporation or other public or private entity, including without limitation grants of funds or other property tendered to the trust in connection with provisions of any zoning ordinance or by-law or any other ordinance or by-law;
(3)
To purchase and retain real or personal property, including without restriction investments that yield a high rate of income or no income;
(4)
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;
(5)
To execute, acknowledge and deliver deeds, assignments, transfers, pledges, leases, covenants, contracts, promissory notes, releases 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;
(6)
To employ advisors and agents, such as accountants, appraisers and lawyers as the Board deems necessary;
(7)
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;
(8)
To apportion receipts and charges between incomes and principal as the Board deems advisable, to amortize premiums and establish sinking funds for such purpose, and to create reserves for depreciation depletion or otherwise;
(9)
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;
(10)
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;
(11)
To carry property for accounting purposes other than acquisition date values;
(12)
To borrow money on such terms and conditions and from such sources as the board deems advisable, to mortgage and pledge trust assets as collateral;
(13)
To make distributions or divisions of principal in kind;
(14)
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 this act, to continue to hold the same for such period of time as the board may deem appropriate;
(15)
To manage or improve real property; and to abandon any property which the Board determined not to be worth retaining;
(16)
To hold all or part of the Trust property un-invested for such purposes and for such time as the Board may deem appropriate; and
(17)
To extend the time for payment of any obligation to the Trust.
A.
Notwithstanding any provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, all monies paid to the Trust in accordance with any zoning ordinance or by-law, exaction fee, or private contributions, shall be paid directly to 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 do not need to be further appropriated. All monies 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.
A.
The books and records of the Trust shall be audited annually by an independent auditor in accordance with accepted accounting practices and in compliance with Chapter 491 of the Acts of 2004.
B.
At the end of each fiscal year the Trust shall report all expenditures of funds received from the City's Community Preservation Committee, established pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 44B, with form CP-3 to be submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to comply with the provisions of M.G.L. c.44, § 55C(c)(1).