Tax Credit Advisor Article Archives

The people at the Special Olympics of Georgia obviously expect their $5.6 million new facility, financed with the help of New Markets Tax Credits, to last. They are planning to fill a time capsule to be opened there 50 years from now.

As energy conservation grows in importance from both a financial and environmental standpoint, and as the task of preserving affordable housing intensifies, New York state is launching a bold initiative to confront both challenges. RetrofitNY, pronounced “Retrofit New York” and administered by NYSERDA – the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority – has the goal, in the agency’s own words, “to spearhead the creation of standardized, scalable solutions and processes that will improve the aesthetic and comfort of residential buildings while dramatically improving their energy performance.

Public housing has long been one of America’s top examples of government failure. From urban renewal, through the construction of high-rise ghettos, to demolition and rebuilding, the story has been about optimism and good intentions, followed by mismanagement and delay.

By the time you read this, tax-exempt private activity bonds will be dead. Or they won’t. The New Markets Tax Credit will be dead. Or it won’t. The top corporate bracket will be 20 percent. Or it won’t.

Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been greenlighted to get back into the Low Income Housing Tax Credit market, the big agencies aren’t wasting any time. Freddie hopes to announce its first investment next month, and Fannie says it expects to re-enter the market in the first quarter of next year.

On August 15, 2017, in the presence of government leaders, financing partners and local residents, the community health organization, CrescentCare, broke ground on its new health campus at 1631 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans.

The public perception of New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) is that they are a federal program meant to revitalize urban areas. The credits have been used by community development entities to obtain financing that restores the vacant storefronts and aging business infrastructure of America’s inner cities. But more recently, NMTCs have actually been repurposed to favor non-metro America, defined as the counties that don’t have a core urban area of over 50,000, and are considered by the federal government to be “rural.”

What I love most about the affordable housing industry is that it is populated by so many makers, doers and visionaries. Where most people see a piece of dirt, a blighted factory or a run-down apartment community, the tax credit developer seeks to fill an unmet societal need or market niche and conceives a future community.

As we reach our deadline for this issue, the two houses of Congress are playing ping pong with our tax code. If those on the House side of the table win, the New Markets Tax Credit may not survive. If those on the Senate side win, it may survive. And then again, either side can change its mind.

One of the most common raps against any kind of social welfare program for low-income individuals is that it robs them of the incentive to better themselves.

Jeffrey Woda grew up in rural eastern Ohio, separated from Wheeling, WV by the Ohio River, the son and grandson of homebuilding contractors. He left the area to become a CPA and was employed for a time by Ernst and Young, working with construction companies, financial institutions and other corporate entities.

Sometimes it can be hard to fathom that various American governing bodies are actually inflicting a housing crisis onto their people.