On June 15, the Arizona Department of Housing announced that 14 rental projects, comprised of 994 units, will receive reservations in the competitive 2018 Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) 9% Round. The value of the credits reserved was over $193.8 million. As in past years, requests for tax credits far exceeded credits available, with 30 applicants requesting more than $410 million in credits.

One of the Department’s goals for the 2018 round was to increase the number of low-income units produced when compared to 2017, by focusing points and tiebreakers on tax credit efficiency.  As a result, 209 more units will be produced through the 2018 allocations. Scoring changes in the 2018 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) resulted in 71 additional units or a 9 percent increase, and another 138 units were attributable to increases in credits due to annual increases associated with population increases (3.8 percent), the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (12.8 percent), and forward allocations (1.2 percent).

Changes to the QAP to reduce costs per unit decreased the Total Development Cost per unit by 8.16 percent, and the allocation of credits per unit decreased 7.19 percent per unit.

Given significant concerns over rising development and construction costs, the Department is pleased that it was able to maximize its resources to put more affordable rental units into production. Projects will be located in Phoenix (8), Tucson (2), Clarkdale, Coolidge, Flagstaff, and Glendale.

Access the list of 2018 LIHTC Reservations for more information.

Comment on the 2019 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP)

The Department is now accepting comments for the first draft of the 2019 QAP. Comments may be submitted to [email protected].