New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)

U.S. Representative Brian Higgins (D-NY) last week introduced H.R. 3224 to extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program through 2016.

On August 5, 2011, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signed into law the Oregon Low Income Community Jobs Initiative, which created a matching state tax credit to the federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC).

Last week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging them to extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program and called for its inclusion in a Congressional jobs strategy.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released the newest version of the Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guidebook.

Documenting the economic impact of a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation is an important component of determining the effectiveness that project might have on the low-income communities it intends to serve. Yet oftentimes Community Development Entities (CDEs) do not have the adequate resources to accurately measure the economic impact a project might have, thereby compromising the integrity of the project and future award opportunities. In a recent article, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP addresses the importance of community impact assessments on NMTC deals.

U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), chairman of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, called for President Barack Obama to expand the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) as part of his jobs initiative.

The Reznick Group recently launched a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Interactive Map and Online Mapping Tool which will help potential NMTC program participants determine eligibility of planned or existing projects or business.

Treasury has announced the next meeting of the Community Development Advisory Board, which advises the Director of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.

On July 18, U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) unveiled a massive deficit reduction plan that calls for slashing federal spending, including for housing programs, and eliminating tax credit programs that promote affordable housing and community development, historic preservation, and renewable energy production.

Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), and Jeff Denham (R-CA) recently introduced a bill that would treat certain population census tracts for which information is not available as low-income communities for purposes of the new markets tax credit (NMTC).

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced that it received a total of 314 applications under the 2011 round of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, the largest number of NMTC applications received since 2002 and an increase of 26 percent over the number of applications received in last year’s competition.

Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Richard Neal (D-MA), and Terri Sewell (D-AK), and Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), and Scott Brown (R-MA), yesterday introduced H.R. 2718 and S. 1456, respectively.