$20 million fund created to help finance Wisconsin affordable housing

 million fund created to help finance Wisconsin affordable housing
 million fund created to help finance Wisconsin affordable housing

A new $20 million fund has been created to provide grants for affordable apartment developments throughout Wisconsin, state officials have announced.

The grants will be provided to apartment developments which have already received federal or state affordable housing tax credits in 2020 and 2021, according to a statement from Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Elmer Moore Jr.

Several such development have run into difficulties obtaining enough additional financing as inflation has caused the prices of materials and labor to rise rapidly.

Developers that receive tax credits must generally provide at least 85% of a building’s apartments at below-market rents to people earning no higher than 60% of the local median income.

Developers sell the tax credits, often to banks and other investors, to raise capital for their projects. Most of the additional funds are usually provided through commercial loans.