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A report on the impact of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program on rural communities was recently released. The report, “The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit: Overcoming Barriers to Affordable Housing in Rural America,” was prepared by Rapoza Associates in partnership with five members of the National Rural Housing Coalition, including Self-Help Enterprises, Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, Peoples’ Self-Help Housing Corporation, South County Housing, and Community Housing Improvement Program of California.
On July 24, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Editorial Board wrote an op-ed supporting the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). This op-ed was in response to Congressional efforts to reform the tax code. On June 27, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) had proposed a “blank-slate” approach as a legislative starting point for tax reform and called on Senate colleagues to provide proposals for tax expenditures to add back and improve in a reformed tax code.
HUD recently announced a proposed rule aimed at improving fair housing practices. According to the notice, HUD is proposing the rule because it says current fair housing practices haven’t been as effective as envisioned. If implemented, the rule will refine and clarify existing requirements to help HUD program participants comply with fair housing guidelines more effectively.
Last year, HUD proposed a rule to modify Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program and 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program regulations. The most significant part of the proposed rule dealt with program regulations governing mixed-finance developments or those projects that receive funding from both the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and Section 202/811 programs.
The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) recently has approved $19.5 million in low-income housing tax credit reservations for the development of 20 affordable housing communities in suburban and rural areas across the state. This is the second cycle of awards in Pennsylvania this year. In March, PHFA announced $16.1 million in LIHTC reservations for 17 projects in the state’s urban centers.
For the past few years, rural designation for Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs was determined using population data from the 2000 census. Beginning on Oct. 1 of this year, current law would require the USDA to start using the 2010 census. This means that approximately 900 communities considered rural using the 2000 census would no longer qualify using 2010 data unless legislation is passed to extend a “grandfathering” clause that allows previously qualified areas to retain their rural status.
The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released its annual “State of the Nation’s Housing” report. The report is intended to provide a periodic assessment of the nation’s housing outlook and summarizes important trends in the economics and demographics of housing.
The National Council of State Housing Agencies recently released its 2011 Factbook, a comprehensive survey of Housing Finance Agency (HFA) program activity. The report found that the states allocated $978 million in low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs)—$749.7 million from their annual state ceiling and $228.3 million to bond-financed properties—in 2011.
Overall, these housing credits will help produce 87,918 affordable rental homes around the country. Other findings include:
On May 15, the Center for Housing Policy released a report on state housing policies that help remediate child poverty, promote family and residential stability for children, and help families access communities of opportunity that offer good schools and other amenities that make them especially good places to raise children.
A bipartisan group of House members from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut recently introduced legislation to provide temporary tax relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act of 2013 (H.R. 2137), modeled after a similar bill passed into law in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, is aimed at providing tax relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy in areas designated as Federal Disaster Areas by the president.
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