A bill has been introduced in the Illinois Senate that would amend the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act that will have an impact on many Illinois municipalities.
If passed, SB 1476 would make the following changes to the Act, among others:
The Act would modify the definition of “exempt local government” so that local governments with 15% affordable housing units would be exempt from the Act (rather than those with 10% of their housing stock as affordable). The definition would also exempt local governments with a population under 2,500 (currently 1,000).
In calculating the cost of rental units, any costs for parking, maintenance, or landlord-imposed fees would be included in the calculation if available from the Census Bureau.
The affordable housing plan requirements have been expanded or modified as follows:
- A description of housing market conditions, infrastructure limitations, local government ordinances, local government policies or practices that do not further fair housing, and other local factors that constrain the local government’s ability to create and preserve affordable housing
- A plan or strategies to eliminate or mitigate the above-identified constraints
- A change to the goals required in the plan to increase from 3 to 5% the increase in the overall percentage of affordable housing and to increase from 10% to 15% the minimum affordable housing units
- A 5 year target for reaching one or more of the goals, and a requirement that the plan include timelines within the first 24 months for actions to implement the components of the plan
