In the first years of its operation, Florida Housing accessed only federal resources to finance housing, but these proved difficult to use on their own. To leverage and augment these programs, the Florida Legislature began appropriating some funding for state programs in the late 1980s. But it was the enactment of the William E. Sadowski Act in 1992 that created a dedicated source of revenue for housing from a portion of documentary stamp taxes on the transfer of real estate. Supported by a coalition of interest groups, including home builders and realtors, this landmark legislation provided both the funding mechanism for state and local programs, as well as a flexible, but accountable framework for local programs to operate. The dedicated revenue comes from:

• A ten-cent increase to the documentary stamp tax paid on the transfer of real estate, which began in August 1992; and
• A re-allocation of ten cents of existing documentary stamp tax revenues from general revenue to the affordable housing trust funds, which began in July 1995.

Approximately 30 percent of these revenues flow into the State Housing Trust Fund and 70 percent flow into the Local Government Housing Trust Fund. The 2005 Legislature adopted a cap restricting the amount of revenue that may flow into the Trust Funds to $243 million per year, with a mechanism for a small increase over time. The cap is set to go into effect July 1, 2007. At this time all of Florida Housing’s state funds are appropriated through the trust funds created by the Sadowski Act; no appropriations are made to us from general revenue.

Sadowski Act funds support a number of state and local programs that operate alongside federal housing programs. Key programs include the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program, which receives approximately two-thirds of the funding; the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program, which receives about 20 percent of the funding, and other programs, including the Predevelopment Loan Program, the Homeownership Assistance Program, the Affordable Housing Guarantee Program and the Catalyst Training and Technical Assistance Program. Sadowski funds also support homeless housing programs administered by the Florida Department of Children and Families, compliance monitoring for the SHIP Program, the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse and the Affordable Housing Study Commission. Summary program descriptions can be found below.

Today, several state agencies operate smaller housing programs, but Florida Housing administers the bulk of affordable housing resources available at the state level. In addition to the 115 public housing authorities in Florida, there are 17 local housing finance authorities that issue mortgage revenue bonds similarly to Florida Housing. All 67 counties and many cities also administer federal and state funds for housing.