Two measures that help address the affordable housing needs of low-income Vermonters are likely to be passed in federal tax and omnibus spending bills on Capitol Hill this month.

The tax bill makes permanent the 9 percent minimum Low-Income Housing Tax Credit rate. A fixed minimum rate will bring much-needed predictability to the process of developing affordable rental housing.

Earlier this week, HUD published the final 2016 Fair Market Rent standards that will take effect as of tomorrow, December 11, 2015. FMRs are intended to represent the dollar amount below which 40 percent of the standard-quality rental housing units in an area are rented. They are used in HUD rental assistance programs, including the Section 8 and HOME programs.

In half of Vermont’s counties, the new FMRs are slightly higher than last year. However, in the more densely populated Burlington-South Burlington metropolitan area, FMRs decreased by about 8 percent due to a change in the methodology used there.

Cathedral Square recently won the Annual TD Charitable Foundation Housing for Everyone Affordable Housing Grant Competition and was awarded $100,000 to help fund the construction of Elm Place. The theme for this year's "Housing for Everyone" was Affordable Housing for Seniors. This theme focused on the development of safe, affordable and accessible housing for adults 55 and over.

It's time for VHFA's annual mitten drive. This year, we will be donating stuffed mittens to benefit the Sarah Holbrook Youth Center and the King Street Youth Center. Both programs are vital community resources for children and teens. Please drop off mittens, gloves or hats at the VHFA office at 164 Saint Paul Street, Burlington by Wednesday, December 16th. Kids and Fitness, a local afterschool program run by The Edge Sports & Fitness, will fill and decorate the mittens with candy canes and ribbons and deliver them to the youth centers.