Title
Ranking of Affordable Rental Housing Projects Requesting Local Government Area of Opportunity Funding (B)
Explanation
To help meet its goal to increase access to affordable housing for low-income households, the City of Gainesville wishes to fund Local Government Contributions to affordable housing development projects leveraged with federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). The State of Florida LIHTC Program provides for-profit and nonprofit organizations with a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal tax liability in exchange for: 1) the acquisition and substantial rehabilitation; 2) substantial rehabilitation; or 3) new construction of low and very low-income rental housing units. Housing tax credits can be worth millions of dollars; and receiving this funding can assist developers to build affordable rental housing in cities and counties across the State of Florida. The use of tax credits subsidizes the cost of developing housing units, thereby producing decent, safe, and affordable housing available to low-income households.
The Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) administers the LIHTC Program for the State of Florida. The FHFC awards tax credits to affordable housing projects based on a competitive application system. Part of that system awards points to projects that meet certain criteria as established by the FHFC. Those criteria include affordability, sustainability and serving an identified housing need.
On July 20, 2021, the FHFC will issue Request For Applications (RFA) 2021-201 (a 149-page DRAFT RFA 2021-201 was issued on July 2, 2021). In RFA 2021-201, the FHFC will identify funding goals for medium sized counties like Alachua County. Those goals will include funding 10 projects in the following categories: a) locally designated revitalization area (1 project); b) near the SunRail transit project (1 project); c) in certain mapped areas of the State (2 projects); and; d) Local Government Area of Opportunity (LGAO) (6 projects).
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