Shocker: Housing Tax Credit Fund Falling $8.3 Million Short
Should it surprise us that housing developers aren’t all that willing to just give money away so that other developers can get a tax credit to develop competing housing?
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A fund aimed at building affordable housing in North Dakota’s booming oil patch is coming up short and hundreds of proposed units might not be built.
Records obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press show that only a handful of the hundreds of businesses benefiting from the oil bonanza have contributed to the housing incentive fund that provides tax credits to develop low-income homes.
Ninety-two percent of the fund’s contributors have been individuals. The Legislature last year increased the amount of money to finance the credits from $4 million to $15 million. The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency program gives individuals and businesses a dollar-for-dollar tax credit.
According to the article, the fund is $8.3 million short in funding tax credits that have already been giving out. What I don’t understand is why people think there needs to be tax credits to build in one of the hottest housing markets in America.
There are big profits to be made by building to meet western housing demand. Government tax credits only distort that market, and slow development down.
The best solution for western housing is for the government to stay out of the way and let private developers supply demand.
Tags: bakken, north dakota housing finance agency, North Dakota News, oil boom
