Bill Proposes Changes to Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act

Bill Proposes Changes to Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act

  Tuesday, April 18, 2023    Julie Tappendorf

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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

The bill would require non-exempt local governments that have submitted a plan previously to IHDA to include a summary of actions taken to implement the previously submitted plan and a summary of progress made towards achieving the goals.

The bill would require local governments to submit a report no later than 36 months after adopting or updating a plan summarizing actions taken to implement the plan.

The bill would require IHDA to post affordable housing plans submitted by local governments on its website.

The bill also would modify the process for affordable housing developers to appeal a decision on a proposed affordable housing development starting January 1, 2026 to restrict appeals against non-exempt local governments until 6 months after they have been notified of their non-exempt status. 

The bill makes some changes to the make-up of the appeals board, including removing the prohibition on more than 4 members being of the same political party.