The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) is seeking public comment on proposed changes to its QAP, including changes that would increase the positive economic, social and environmental impact of affordable housing projects while improving the competitiveness of rural developments.

The proposed changes would affect scoring for the 2021-22 federal nine percent and state four percent tax credit awards and reflect opportunities to further leverage affordable housing to stimulate economic recovery. The stakes are significant – for the current cycle, WHEDA will award approximately $16 million worth of nine percent federal tax credits and $8 million worth of four percent state tax credits in the weeks ahead based on last year’s scoring criteria.

Comments on the proposed scoring for the 2021-22 awards are due April 27 and may be submitted via SurveyMonkey or by sending an email to publiccomments@wheda.com.

Among the proposed changes to the federal nine percent awards:

  • A Wisconsin Green Built Home Standard score of 150 or more will be considered a requirement;
  • Projects that achieve a Green Built Home Standard score of 200 or more or that meet the Enterprise Green Communities Certification Plus will be eligible for a new scoring preference of about seven percentage points;
  • Projects with supportive services, including services to meet the needs of veterans, will be eligible for additional points, increasing this category to an overall weight of about seven percentage points;
  • Increased flexibility to provide any combination of units at levels that would be affordable on average for renters earning 60 percent or less of the county median income and rental subsidy assistance for the targeted units;
  • Establishment of a rural set-aside with a separate scoring scale that considers the smaller scale and values associated with affordable housing in rural communities;
  • A new scoring preference of about three percentage points if the project is in a rural county that has not received a nine percent housing tax credit award in the past five years; and
  • A new scoring preference of about one percentage point for applications that include a minority developer acting as a developer or co-developer with at least a 49 percent stake in all aspects of the development.

Among the proposed changes to the state four percent awards:

  • A 25 percent rural set-aside is being introduced into the State of Wisconsin four percent program and WHEDA is implementing this uniform minimum point scoring threshold for all applications;
  • Under current rural set-aside rules, developments must be in an area that meets USDA Rural Development’s property eligibility criteria for multifamily housing. In addition to this requirement, a second requirement will be introduced at the municipality level to require that the municipality be 25 miles or more from a population center and maintain 9,999 or fewer residents;
  • WHEDA will publish a list of municipalities that meet the second rural requirement; and
  • To compete for credits under the supportive housing set-aside, developments must provide supportive services in at least 25 percent of the units for individuals and/or families who are chronically homeless or prone to homelessness and who require access to supportive services to maintain housing. The developer also must submit commitments for rental subsidies covering at least 25 percent of the units.

Other changes include prohibiting mid-lease rent increases and implementing an annual two percent cap on annual rent increases at WHEDA housing tax credit developments.