Press Release: Gov. Evers, WHEDA Announce New Allocation Plan for Housing Tax Credit

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 08/27/2024 05:00 AM CDT
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2024
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
Gov. Evers, WHEDA Announce New Allocation Plan for Housing Tax Credit
 
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), today announced the final 2025-2026 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The QAP is the plan for administering federal and state tax credits that finance low- to moderate-income housing and establishes parameters and priorities for awarding the coming years’ housing tax credits, including federal nine percent and four percent credits, as well as state four percent credits. 

“Building affordable housing in every corner of our state is critical to making sure that Wisconsin is prepared to meet the needs of a 21st-century workforce in a 21st-century economy, including addressing our state’s generational workforce challenges and recruiting, training, and retaining talented folks across our state,” said Gov. Evers. “These tax credits are vital to expanding access to affordable housing, driving economic development, and extending the reach of community services.”

During the 2023-2024 period, WHEDA awarded $69 million in federal and state tax credits to create 2,932 affordable housing units. The awards support projects in 25 communities statewide following a highly competitive process. Demand for the tax credits remains high, with competing proposals consistently outpacing available funds.

“The 2025-2026 Qualified Allocation Plan reflects WHEDA’s commitment to engage with stakeholders in innovative ways to assure that these affordable housing investments offer the greatest housing opportunities for Wisconsinites,” said WHEDA CEO and Executive Director Elmer Moore Jr.

This announcement builds on longstanding efforts of the Evers Administration to expand access to safe, reliable, and affordable housing, which is a critical part of helping address the workforce challenges facing the state. Since 2019, over 17,000 affordable housing units have been built, and more than 26,000 housing units total have been built statewide. Further, the 2023-25 biennial budget signed by Gov. Evers provided one of the largest state investments in workforce housing—$525 million—in state history.

The 2025-2026 QAP makes strategic changes in order to use tax credits effectively, while reaching as many communities as possible with the resources WHEDA has available. The plan is tailored to meet the evolving housing needs of Wisconsin and to make sure the state’s workforce, economy, and housing infrastructure are ready to meet the needs of the 21st Century. Key changes in the new plan include:
  • Redefining set-aside categories to promote distribution of resources across the state;
  • Changes to the competitive application process to lower the barrier for entry and streamline decision making through the two-step process from project concepts to detailed submission;
  • Changes to the non-competitive application process to anticipate the continuing trend of increasing demands for tax-exempt bonds;
  • Updating and revising scoring categories to respond to the current state of the housing market and priorities; and
  • Revising the WHEDA Emerging Business Program to enhance participation

WHEDA has been the sole administrator for Housing Tax Credits in Wisconsin since the federal program was established in 1986 and began implementing the Wisconsin Housing Tax Credit program in 2018. Since 1986, WHEDA has awarded more than $560 million in Housing Tax Credits, resulting in the development and rehabilitation of more than 58,000 rental housing units for low- to moderate-income families, seniors, and vulnerable community members.

The state and federal programs provide tax incentives through the Internal Revenue Code and the Wisconsin tax code that encourage developers to create affordable housing. In exchange for the tax credits, developers agree to reserve housing units for low- and moderate-income households.

Find more information about the 2025-2026 QAP here.
 
An online version of this release is available here.
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