The House tax reform bill threats to drastically reduce the number of affordable housing units developed.
A recent study by the accounting firm Novogradac & Company estimates that the tax reform bill as proposed by the House of Representatives will result in a decrease in affordable housing production of 1 million units over ten years.
At risk is the 4 percent tax credit, one of two credits developers can use to build affordable housing (the 9 percent being the other). The 4 percent credit can be claimed if 50 percent or more of the project is financed using tax-exempt private-activity bonds. The House bill proposed to eliminate private-activity bonds, which would cause a large reduction in the production of low-income housing.
Jeff Andrews provides more coverage of the report in an article for Curbed.
FULL STORY: Affordable Housing Advocates Say Trump Tax Reform Bill is 'Devastating'
More Fallout on Affordable Housing from Tax Bill
While the low income housing tax credit was retained, banks will be much less willing to purchase them due to their reduced corporate tax rate. That's just one way H.R. 1 will exacerbate divisions between the rich and poor in America's cities.
GOP Tax Plan Eliminates Critical Infrastructure-Funding Bond Program
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act would have a deleterious effect on major infrastructure proposed by the private sector. The loss of Private Activity Bonds would hike borrowing rates for road, transit, stadium, and even affordable housing projects.
Mismanagement Leads to Loss of up to $35M for DC Affordable Housing
The District’s housing agency forfeited what would amount to $35 million in federal housing funds over the next decade.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
Mamdani overhauls NYC's Vision Zero plan with 100 new policy goals
The overhaul aims to reduce traffic deaths and make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers through lower speed limits, new safety infrastructure and more.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association