Thom Amdur Author Archives

April was a busy month for affordable housing in Washington, DC.

If adopted, President Trump’s FY-2020 budget would make significant cuts to HUD’s budget—overall, a $9.6 billion decrease from FY-2019 appropriated levels—and would zero out many critical community development programs entirely.

Historically, when policy makers and advocates discuss preservation, we are referring to the preservation of rental assistance contracts that are associated with older HUD and/or USDA Rural Development assisted properties (i.e. Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, Section 515, etc.).

When I started my career in affordable housing, the term “preservation” generally was attributable to strategies and resources aimed at extending the affordability of HUD Assisted or USDA Rural Development properties.

Last summer, National Housing & Rehabilitation Association launched a new policy advocacy and educational initiative focused on increasing Multifamily Tax-Exempt Bond production across the country.

On this recent Thanksgiving, I hope our elected officials—both present and future—took the opportunity to remember the spirit of collaboration between the Mayflower Pilgrims and the Wampanoags on that first Thanksgiving.

According to a recent report published by the Council of Community Finance Agencies (CDFA), 2017 was a record setting year for multifamily private activity bond issuances – $15,302,500,000 in total.

There are many reasons why the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and the Historic Tax Credit (HTC) have endured politically and produced or preserved so many affordable units and historic structures.

As I write this month’s column, there are 81 days until the mid-term elections (probably closer to 60 by the time you read it) and only about 35 remaining legislative working days through the end of the year.

If you haven’t looked at RAD in a while, now is a good time. Several recent developments deserve your attention.

t’s summer! The kids are out of school, the heat and humidity are rising, and, since it’s an even year, political campaign season is ramping up! I won’t try to handicap the outcome of this November’s elections, but if the primaries to date are any indication, the ideological and rhetorical divide between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party is only going to widen.
Amidst the politics, our industry faces new headwinds. The Federal Reserve has telegraphed
further interest rate increases. Trade wars are driving up the cost of lumber, steel and virtually all building supplies and materials. A shortage of available labor across the building trades is exacerbated by low unemployment (generally), an aging workforce (specifically) and high-demand,
particularly in areas impacted by natural disasters.
While it may be summer, there is no time for an extended vacation for housing, community development and tax credit advocates. Now more than ever, we need legislation to fix the flat four percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits, to build on the expansion of the nine percent LIHTC enacted in the last round of appropriations and, in relatively “new” news, speedily adopt recently introduced (on June 13) legislation (HR. 6081 and S. 3058) sponsored by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Susan Collins (R-ME), as well as U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) to strengthen to the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC) after it was diminished in tax reform.
The Historic Tax Credit Enhancement Act, in particular, will boost the value of HTC
investments from urban cores to rural Main Streets across the country. Presently, the tax code requires that building owners subtract the amount of Federal Historic Tax Credits
from a building’s basis (the amount a property is worth for tax purposes). Eliminating this requirement will increase the basis of rehabilitated historic buildings for building owners, providing a tax benefit, and attract more capital from tax credit investors. This legislative change preserves the vast majority of the savings achieved by the Tax Cut and Jobs Act.
Eliminating the basis adjustment will also bring the HTC in line with the LIHTC, which
does not require a basis adjustment. Enacting this legislation will strengthen the credit
and improve the incentive for building owners who are revitalizing historic properties in communities nationwide.
We anticipate at least one or two other potential legislative vehicles for tax policy adjustments before the end of this Congress and it is critical that we take advantage of the upcoming summer recess to continue to meet with elected officials and advocate for bipartisan tax legislation.
The 116th Congress is a great unknown. What we do know is that some of our most ardent champions, like Senator
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), will be retiring at the conclusion of this Congress and that there will be dozens of new representatives and senators to educate. Just six months post-tax reform, it is critical that we act NOW and forcefully advocate for these
enhancements while there is still some momentum for technical corrections and a core stable of legislative champions who can get these bills over the finish line.

Doctors don’t always diagnose the source of an ailment and as a result sometimes prescribe the wrong medicine.