LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT SHOWCASE

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Showcase
State Housing Leaders
Call LIHTC Crucial
F“Given California’s extreme
From the perspective of state leaders, the low-income housing
tax credit (LIHTC) is crucial–and that’s true for big states and
small ones.
housing shortage, the low-income
housing tax credits are extremely
important,” said Jacob Roper,
the communications director for
California Treasurer John Chiang.
“The lack of affordable housing is
not only pushing Californians out
of the communities in which they
work and have family roots but is
now threatening the vitality of our
economy.”
Roper said that the most
important tool for affordable
housing is the LIHTC. “The lowincome
housing tax credits are the
basic building block with which
we finance almost all affordable
rental housing in the state,” Roper
said. He cited the construction of
nearly 7,000 rental homes and the
rehabilitation and preservation of
nearly 10,000 more in 2014.
Oregon’s population is just 10
percent of California’s, but its need
for the LIHTC is just as strong.
“Oregon Housing and Community
Services [OHCS] understands how
vital the LIHTC is to building and
rehabilitating affordable housing
across Oregon,” said Julie V. Cody,
the assistant director of housing
finance at OHCS. “Without it, we
would be lacking the critical capital
resources necessary to do our
work.”
The low-income housing tax
credit is not a single success,
but an amalgamation
of a lot of successes.
The executive director of the
Texas Department of Housing
and Community Affairs said the
LIHTC affects all levels in his state.
“The low-income housing tax
credit is not a single success, but an
amalgamation of a lot of successes,”
said Tim Irvine. “It provides
affordable rental properties that are
high quality and well maintained,
properties that should be a source
of pride in their communities. This
is shown in the uptick of mixedincome
properties we’ve seen of
late, properties that serve a range
of incomes, including market rate
units.”
Irvine said the LIHTC value
isn’t just in housing. “This pride is
spread to the households living in
these properties, helping to place
them on a positive trajectory with
things like access to jobs, high
quality schools, and community
assets,” he said.
Oregon’s Cody agreed. “At the
end of the day, the LIHTC has built
affordable rental homes for people
struggling to make ends meet and
has made sure they are able to not
only afford rent, but also be able to
put food on the table because they
are no longer experiencing a severe
rent burden,” she said.
Cody said the combination
of different LIHTCs has helped
not only to build, but to preserve
affordable housing. “Without
the LIHTC, it would have been
impossible for us to have preserved
these units and the federal rent
subsidy which helps the tenants
remain in their homes,” she said.
For California’s Roper, it’s
an economic issue, too–both for
the families involved and for
the Golden State. “Hundreds of
thousands of families have safe,
stable, high-quality housing at a
price that allows them to make
ends meet and, hopefully, save for
the future,” he said. “Moreover,
the program allows us to build
housing near job centers that is
affordable to the workers who
make our economy thrive. The
low-income housing tax credit is
critical to California’s long-term
sustainability.”
10 Novogradac & Company LLP