North Dakota Demonstrates Support Exists for Housing Incentive Fund
The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency announced January 12, 2012 that it has received more than $6.3 million in contributions for the Housing Incentive Fund. In its first fundraising campaign, contributions to the state housing trust fund have been gathered from individuals, businesses and financial institutions.
The Housing Incentive Fund, passed by the Legislative Assembly in 2011, provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits to those contributing to the Fund. A total of 203 contributions from individuals have been received during this initial phase and an additional nineteen contributions were received from businesses and financial institutions. The tax credits can be used in the year of the contribution or carried forward for up to ten years.
Contributions into the HIF are held at the Bank of North Dakota. Eligible contributors into the HIF include any taxpayer with a North Dakota state income or financial institution tax liability. The aggregate amount of tax credits allowed to all eligible contributors is $15 million for the biennium of the 2011 special legislative session.
The Housing Incentive Fund is intended to finance the development of affordable multifamily housing. Contributions may be made on a project-specific basis or on a general pool basis to be used to fund projects statewide. Funds can be used for multifamily projects through new construction, substantial rehabilitation, or adaptive reuse of non-residential buildings. In addition, funds can be used for gap assistance, matching funds or accessibility improvements as well as for rental assistance, emergency assistance, or targeted supportive services designed to prevent homelessness.
Eligible applicants for the funds include: local, state and tribal governments; housing authorities; community action agencies; regional planning councils; local EDCs or JDAs; for-profit developers and nonprofit developers.
In each funding round, at least 25% of the funds must be used in difficult to develop areas where the population is less than 10,000 and there are unmet housing needs. At least half of the funds must support housing for very low income households. In addition, 90% of the funds must be used in the seventeen oil and gas impacted Counties and federally-declared disaster counties receiving FEMA individual assistance.
Applications will be solicited and evaluated for possible funding on a quarterly basis by the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency. Each application will be scored based on these characteristics:
- serving extremely low income households,
- serving very low income households,
- addressing housing needs of moderate income households,
- addressing housing shortages in developing communities with a population less than 10,000,
- the need for public funds,
- readiness to proceed,
- generation of private capital contributions,
- providing new construction,
- rehabilitating existing uninhabitable structures,
- providing special needs housing, and
- serving flood-related housing needs in Ward County.
The North Dakota Housing Incentive Fund was created as a result of the campaign spear-headed by the Housing Alliance of North Dakota with 29 statewide members. HAND’s mission is to ensure every North Dakotan has access to a decent, safe, affordable, accessible place to live.
Contact: Jolene Kline, Director of Planning and Housing Development, North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, 2624 Vermont Avenue, P.O. Box 1535, Bismarck, ND 58502-1535 (701-3288080) www.ndhousingincentivefund.org
