Nevada will soon have a new tool to help developers build affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents in the state.
Gov. Steve Sisolak signed legislation that creates a transferable state housing tax credit with an annual cap of $10 million. The program expires Jan. 1, 2030.
Several steps must still be taken to launch the program next year, including establishing “threshold points” that developers must meet to receive the state credits, according to Steve Aichroth, administrator of the Nevada Housing Division.
He anticipates the state credits will help finance approximately 600 units of affordable housing annually and serve as an important source of gap financing for projects.
If officials see strong demand for the credit, they can award up to $13 million in credits in a year, but the following year’s amount would be reduced by $3 million.
This gives the Housing Division additional flexibility to fund needed projects, says Aichroth, noting that the creation of the new program has been a two-year process. He credits state legislators and their staffs as well as a committee that studied affordable housing in Nevada for their efforts.
“We want to help the developers, but we really want to help the citizens of Nevada,” he says. “We know there’s a shortage of housing throughout the state as there is in the country.”
The state has a shortage of more than 73,000 affordable rental homes affordable and available to extremely low-income renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition in The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Rental Homes report.
