Public Hearing on Statewide Affordable Housing Plans Sept. 17 in Boise

BOISE — A public hearing on Idaho's updated Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Allocation Plan and the State of Idaho HOME Program Administrative Plan will be held at 9 a.m., Sept. 17, Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA) officials announced. The hearing will take place in the first floor conference room at IHFA's office, 565 W. Myrtle, in Boise. The affordable housing community and all developers interesting in building multifamily housing are encouraged to attend this hearing.

The Allocation Plan governs Idaho's competitive Housing Tax Credit allocation process. The State of Idaho HOME Program Administrative Plan governs the competitive HOME Program. Both federally funded plans are updated each year. Public input assists IHFA—the state's administrator of Housing Tax Credit and HOME funds—in assessing the plan's effectiveness in meeting housing needs. It also helps maintain a community focus on affordable housing issues throughout the state. The plans and comments will be forwarded to Governor Batt as part of the approval process.

"These programs run so smoothly that most people are probably not aware how affordable housing is created in their community," said Gerald Hunter, IHFA president and executive director. "Idaho receives millions of federal dollars from both the Housing Tax Credit and HOME programs. They are vital to developing multifamily housing in our state and are the last federal programs left that help developers finance affordable developments."

Idaho's Housing Tax Credit helps defray construction and rehabilitation costs on apartments, placing rents within the reach of lower-income families. The Housing Tax Credit is a U.S. Department of Treasury program that provides a dollar-for-dollar federal tax liability reduction to owners of Housing Tax Credit developments.

HOME funds are allocated to IHFA as a federal block grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The funds provide resources and flexibility to our state's most pressing low-income housing needs. Each year, IHFA receives approximately $3.5 million. The HOME Program is almost exclusively a low-interest loan program. All HOME repayments are recycled for further HOME use.

Copies of the proposed plans are available upon request by calling 1-800-219-2285. Affordable housing developers that cannot attend are encouraged to submit comments by Sept. 17 to: IHFA Multifamily Finance Department, P.O. Box 7899, Boise, ID 83707-1899. Comments may also be e-mailed to Pate@ihfa.org.

During Fiscal Year 1998, Housing Tax Credit helped build five new affordable housing developments. These developments increased Idaho's rental housing stock by 258 units—231 of these are affordable to lower-income households. Idaho's HOME Program helped finance eight multifamily developments in Chubbuck, Lewiston, Caldwell and Twin Falls along with two developments each in Jerome and Mountain Home. Together these developments added 154 affordable units to Idaho's rental market.

IHFA is a self-supporting, nonprofit corporate body. IHFA's mission is to promote affordable housing opportunities to Idaho's limited-income citizens. IHFA uses no state funds or state employees to support its operations.