The Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition (VAHC), a state leader in housing policy, research and advocacy, issued the following statement last week on the tax bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and under consideration in the Senate:
At a time when Vermont already has a shortage of 10,866 affordable homes for extremely low income renters and the 5th highest affordability gap for renters in the country, the pending tax proposals would eliminate tax credits and financing tools that have helped create thousands of affordable apartments in our state and made homeownership more affordable for thousands of Vermonters.
“Vermont already has an affordable housing crisis, but these bills would make it a catastrophe. Without the tax credits and bonds that the House bill eliminates, thousands of affordable homes will not be built, and more Vermonters will be left homeless or stuck in homes they cannot afford,” said Ted Wimpey, VAHC Steering Committee Chair and Director of CVOEO’s Fair Housing Project. “The Senate proposal is more favorable but would still substantially reduce affordable rental housing production at a time when the need is so acute. If either of these tax bills becomes law, it will put families out on the streets and irreparably harm Vermont communities.”