OHFA Annual Plan - Ohio Housing Finance Agency

Primary Recommendations• Identify new resources for the development of affordable housing.• Property tax assessment in Ohio should take into account the restrictions placed uponthe properties. OHFA should provide data and information to responsible parties toensure the unique aspects of affordable housing are properly understood.• Expand the use of multifamily bonds. As a state-wide entity, OHFA can issue multifamilybonds for projects anywhere in Ohio. The Agency is also responsible for allocating 4percent tax credits to federally subsidized projects. These two responsibilities placeOHFA in a unique position to impact preservation projects. OHFA should review thecosts associated with issuing bonds and make adjustments as appropriate to ensureOHFA is an attractive issuer of multifamily debt.• Incentivize green building in all programs. Projects should be rewarded for forwardthinking with additional resources or flexibility.• OHFA should work closely with the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Housingand Community Partnerships to create the most efficient and effective environmentalreview process. Determine whether environmental reviews conducted for one fundercan be used by other funders.• Focus on the efficiency of the multifamily offices by simplifying procedures, reducingprocessing times, and using technology whenever possible.• Reestablish the OHFA Compliance Advisory Committee to ensure OHFA has adequateinput from managers and developers regarding compliance and operating issues.Secondary Recommendations• Identify appropriate expense and income underwriting factors. Underwriting is themethod by which the financial viability of a project is determined. Factors suchas expected income and cost increases are critical to determining the long termperformance of a project. These should be as accurate as possible to ensure only thoseprojects that can be sustained are funded.• Explore the viability of creating purchasing cooperatives for insurance and otherservices. Pools of purchasers can often secure discounts a lone purchaser cannot.While insurance is not the most important cost factor undermining properties, it isa significant operating cost. Therefore, any reduction in this cost benefits affordablehousing properties.• Limit or reduce OHFA fees where possible. OHFA should ensure its fees reflect the valueadded by OFHA. Steps that reduce the growth rate of its fees should be implementedby OHFA. This includes seeking new sources of revenue that support the Agenciesoperations while allowing it to pursue its mission.• Use HOME or other gap financing programs to fund long-term project reserves.• Projects are burdened by requirements to comply with multiple funders. Many of thefunders are units of local government that administer an allocation of HOME Programfunds as a Participating Jurisdiction (PJ). OHFA should explore creating a fundingcollaborative to encourage awards of gap financing from a single source, instead ofmultiple sources.62