Senator Marlon Kimpson files Affordable Housing Legislation
February 10, 2016
On Tuesday, February 9, 2016, State Senator Marlon Kimpson (D-Charleston) introduced three bills aimed at improving affordable housing opportunities throughout the state of South Carolina.
“We have a problem. The median price of a house in Charleston is $235,000, much higher than it was at the peak in 2007 of $210,000. This trend is not unique to Charleston. People can’t afford to buy the homes offered for sale in our cities because working-class wages have remained stagnant,” said Kimpson.
Kimpson drafted the legislation with input and collaboration from Charleston City Council. The bills include:
- Authorizing local governments to increase the fees associated with building permits by 10% and requiring those increased fees to be used for affordable housing programs;
- Authorizing a low income housing state credit to be combined with the federal tax credit for low income housing in an effort to maximize housing assistance programs; and
- Increasing the state’s current documentary stamp tax by twenty cents, split equally between the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority and local and regional housing trust funds to be used for affordable housing programs.
“Ethic and socio-economic diversity in our cities is important. It’s what makes us culturally significant. The time is now to address this issue before more working-class families are displaced by the sharp rise in housing prices,” said Kimpson.
Increasing building fees
To amend Chapter 1, Title 4 of the 1976 Code relating to counties by adding Section 4-1-160 to allow county governments to increase building fees up to ten percent and requiring county government to use the money from the increase for affordable housing programs; and to amend section 5-25-310 of the 1976 code to allow municipal governments to increase building permit fees up to ten percent and requiring the municipality to use the money collected from the increase towards Affordable Housing programs.
Combining state and federal tax credit
A bill to amend to amend Article 25, Chapter 6, Title 12 of the 1976 Code relating to tax credits to create Section 12-6-3800 to allow for a tax payer eligible for a federal low-income housing tax credit to claim a low-income state tax credit in an amount equal to the federal tax credit.
Increasing documentary stamp tax
A bill to amend Section 12-24-10(a) of the 1976 Code relating to deed recording fees to allow an increase in the deed recording fee by twenty cents and to require ten cents of the increase to go to the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority and ten cents going to local and regional housing trust funds for use towards Affordable Housing.
