Park Apartments wins federal tax credits

Jefferson County is one of 13 counties in Iowa to receive federal Housing Tax Credits and HOME program awards to preserve affordable housing units.

Fairfield Park I Apartments, 904 W. Harrison Ave., and Fairfield Park Apartments II, 606 W. Monroe Ave., will be renovated and updated using tax credit awards of $190,393 and $182,346 respectively.

?The $372,700 in tax credits help provide the means to update and modernize two 30-year old apartment buildings that provide affordable housing to 40 Fairfield families,? said Adam Plagge, director of Fairfield Economic Development Association. ?It?s a significant step toward ensuring there are quality housing options available to our community.?

Fairfield city manager Kevin Flanagan said he wasn?t sure of the start date for work on the apartments.

The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors announced this week affordable housing awards to 15 affordable rental projects totaling more than $82.4 million in federal Housing Tax Credits and HOME program awards to build and preserve 650 affordable housing units.

?The tax credit and HOME program awards will improve affordable housing options for Iowans, including providing more options to fit the needs of seniors and persons with disabilities,? said Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Dave Jamison ?These projects have leveraged an additional $8.2 million in local contributions, which shows that communities understand the benefits of these projects.?

The Internal Revenue Service makes an annual per capita allocation of federal tax credits to each state for the Housing Tax Credit program. IFA is charged with allocating those credits to developers of affordable housing in Iowa. Developers who receive tax credits sell them to investors to generate equity for the housing developments. The tax credits provide a dollar-for-dollar reduction to the investor?s federal tax liability on ordinary income.

IFA had more than $7.7 million to allocate in the 2014 Tax Credit Round. IFA received 44 applications requesting more than $23.2 million in Housing Tax Credits. The actual awards exceed $76 million because the credits are committed annually for a 10-year period. The remaining 2014 credits will be used to assist current housing tax credit projects that are under construction and have incurred cost increases.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocates approximately $2 billion in HOME program funding among states and hundreds of localities nationwide. IFA allocates Iowa?s allocation of HOME funds to eligible entities to build and preserve affordable housing.

The IFA Board of Directors approved more than $5.5 million in state HOME funds to support six rental housing tax credit projects.