BURLINGTON, VT — Affordable housing will be created in four Vermont communities with the help of $1.1 million in federal and state Housing Tax Credits awarded by Vermont Housing Finance Agency. "Tax credits are one of the most significant tools we have in creating and preserving affordable rental housing. Unfortunately, demand for these credits routinely exceeds supply," said Executive Director Sarah Carpenter. "The shortage of high quality affordable housing continues to be a problem for most Vermont communities and for the Vermont economy. VHFA is very pleased to assist in the development of this housing, but frustrated that we couldn’t do more to meet the needs of all the applicants." VHFA is responsible for allocating Housing Tax Credits. Projects receiving federal tax credits this round all consist of new construction: Butterfield Commons Family, West Dover; Riverside Village, Essex Junction; Roosevelt Apartments, Burlington; and Stony Creek, Wilder. Butterfield Commons Elderly in West Dover received state Housing Tax Credits. Housing Tax Credits have helped produce nearly all of Vermont's recently-developed affordable rental housing. Vermont receives $2 million annually in federal Housing Tax Credits and $150,000 in state Housing Tax Credits, which it awards in three rounds. The next round, originally planned for the end of this year, has been rescheduled to early 2004. A schedule and application information are available at the VHFA website: www.vhfa.org. Congress created the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program in 1986 to encourage the creation and preservation of affordable rental housing for low-income households. As a supplement to the federal program, the Vermont legislature created a similar program in 2000. Tax credits reduce tax liability for owners of qualifying rental housing if they agree to conform to certain operating restrictions. VHFA was established by the Vermont Legislature in 1974 to finance and promote affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Since its inception, the agency has provided low-cost homeownership financing to more than 24,000 Vermont families, and financed the construction or rehabilitation of more than 6,700 affordable apartments.

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