Last week, the federal government passed an omnibus bill funding the government for FY 2018. Funding for housing and homeless assistance programs exceeded what housing advocates had anticipated. Among the spending is a substantial boost to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which will see an increase of 12.5% to the annual state per capita credit allocation for the next four years. In addition, the bill contains $11.15 billion for project-based rental assistance, an increase of $50 million from FY 2017. These funding increases will be extremely helpful in VHFA’s efforts to expand access to decent, affordable housing.
For more information on the bill, including a note from Senator Leahy’s office, read Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition’s (VAHC) summary of the highlights.