122A-5.15. Workforce Housing Loan Program.

(a) The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency shall establish and administer the Workforce Housing Loan Program for the purpose of making loans for qualified low-income housing development in the State. Funds appropriated to the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund for the Workforce Housing Loan Program shall be used by the Agency only as provided in this section.

(b) The following definitions apply in this section:

(1) Code. - As defined in G.S. 105-228.90.

(2) Qualified North Carolina low-income housing development. - A qualified low-income project or building that is allocated a federal tax credit under section 42(h)(1) of the Code.

(3) Qualified residential unit. - A housing unit that meets the requirements of section 42 of the Code.

(c) A taxpayer allocated a federal low-income housing tax credit under section 42 of the Code to construct or substantially rehabilitate a qualified North Carolina low-income housing development is eligible for a loan under the Workforce Housing Loan Program if the taxpayer satisfies the loan criteria established by the Agency. The loan criteria shall support the financing of similar types of developments as provided in G.S. 105-129.42 and shall be developed in partnership with developers of low-income housing in the State who receive a federal low-income housing tax credit under section 42 of the Code. The Agency shall take into consideration all eligible sources of funding for each development project, including whether there are other eligible sources of funding available for the development project. No loan made to a taxpayer under this section shall exceed two million dollars ($2,000,000) if the low-income housing development is located in a low-income county, as designated by the Agency; one million five hundred dollars ($1,500,000) in a moderate-income county, as designated by the Agency; and two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) in a high-income county, as designated by the Agency.

(d) By February 1 of each year, the Agency shall report to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations and the Fiscal Research Division on the number of loans made under this section, the amount of each loan, and whether the low-income housing development is located in a low-, moderate-, or high-income county, as designated by the Agency.