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The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (PA DCED) Aug. 3 announced $5 million in state historic tax credits (HTCs) awarded to 25 recipients for the fiscal year 2021-2022 round. PA DCED in a blog post estimated the properties will generate $177 million in rehabilitation expenditures. The next awards round will open Oct. 1.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today released a list of 22 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations made public in July. Seven evaluations were outstanding and 15 were satisfactory. The list includes national banks, federal savings associations and insured federal branches of foreign banks.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, announced a deal on sweeping reconciliation legislation that includes several major renewable energy provisions, including extensions of the production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC). The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 also includes a 15% corporate minimum tax, increased tax enforcement resources, an extension of the Affordable Care Act premium tax incentives and prescription drug reform.
The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund published in today’s Federal Register a request for public comment concerning the criteria to designate a certified CDFI as a Minority Lending Institution (MLI). While no federal funding is associated with an MLI designation, the CDFI Fund seeks to implement this designation for CDFIs that wish to be recognized for high levels of service and accountability to minority populations and to identify barriers that those CDFIs experience in providing access to capital. The CDFI Fund will use the designation for limited purposes, including data collection and reporting. The Federal Register posting includes the list of questions to which the CDFI Fund is requesting comment. Comments must be submitted by Nov. 25.
The U.S. Department of Treasury today announced new guidance to increase the use of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to boost the supply of affordable housing. The guidance permits State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to fund the full principal amount of long-term affordable housing loans and expands the list of federal programs for which the SLFRF can be used for affordable housing. Treasury earlier encouraged governments to dedicate part of the overall $350 billion in SFLRF to affordable housing and through March 31, Treasury data indicates that more than 600 state and local governments had budgeted $12.9 billion in SLFRF funds to meet housing needs and to lower housing-related costs. A Notes from Novogradac blog post will provide more information on the guidance.
The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund will pause the acceptance of new CDFI certification applications from Oct. 1, 2022, through April 2, 2023, as it deploys new application and reporting tools. The revised certification application, annual certification and data collection report will be released for a second round of public comment in the coming weeks by the Office of Management and Budget, with the updated versions implemented April 3, 2023. During the blackout period, CDFIs will be required to be in a state of good standing with respect to their certification status. Organizations must remain in compliance with all outstanding CDFI Fund awards reporting requirements, including recipients of the new markets tax credit (NMTC) and Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). The CDFI Fund posted a frequently asked questions document on the blackout period.
The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund will publish in Tuesday’s Federal Register an amended notice of funds availability (NOFA) for the fiscal year 2022 CDFI Equitable Recovery Program (CDFI ERP) round. The amended NOFA extends several deadlines, including an extension for CDFI ERP applications to Sept. 22 at 11:59 p.m. ET and extension to submit the OMB Standard Form-424 Mandatory to Aug. 18. In addition to the deadline extensions, the CDFI Fund also amended the NOFA to clarify eligibility requirements around audited financial statements. The CDFI ERP provides $1.75 billion to CDFIs in grants to respond to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Awards are provided to CDFIs to expand services in low- or moderate-income communities and to borrowers that have significant unmet capital or financial services needs and were disproportionally affected by the pandemic.