Low-Income Housing Tax Credit & Supportive Housing in Michigan, 2015

Set-Asides

Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Category (25%): Allocated to projects setting aside at least 25% of the units in the development for new tenants that are PSH-eligible or that are preserving an existing PSH project for which the project will remain a PSH project. A project that has more than 75 PSH units is not eligible to be submitted unless a waiver is granted by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). Projects meeting the definition of a PSH project must be submitted in this category.

Funding Round #1 (October 2014 and 2015) allocates $3,300,000 (approximately 15% of the Annual Credit Ceiling) to the Permanent Supportive Housing Category. Funding Round #2 (April 2015 and 2016), allocates an additional $2,200,000 to the Permanent Supportive Housing Category (approximately 10% of the total Annual Credit Ceiling).

Scoring Incentives

Projects that commit to restricting units to low-income tenants will receive up to 30 points for depth and breadth of targeting. Points deliberately encourage use of Project Based Rental Assistance (PBRA).

Supportive service coordination – 6 points

On‐site service coordination must be available to all supportive housing tenants. This may be provided through a partnership with the local service organizations. The minimum is 8 hours per week for every 30 units. Additional on‐site services may be needed depending on the population served by the supportive housing project.

Permanent supportive housing projects are eligible for the points listed below.

o   1 point for HUD Shelter Plus Care Program (S+C)

o   1 point for Capital Contribution targeted for supportive services from developer fee ($100 per supportive housing unit/per year through the 15-year compliance period)

o   1 point for Private/Foundation – minimum of $1,000 per supportive housing unit must be committed

o   1 point for Other State Agencies – minimum of $1,000 per supportive housing unit must be committed (DOC, DCH, DHS)

o   1 point for Federal Funding for supportive housing programs such as the HUD 811 Program or Veteran housing programs targeted for special needs or homeless populations

Community/Supportive Service Space: 2 points

Projects are required to provide a minimum of 15 square feet per residential unit of community or supportive service space to projects with 11 or more PSH units.   Projects that provide additional community space to offer additional opportunities for residents such as enrichment classes or employment training on‐site will be awarded 2 points.

Developing in a high need area – 2 points

Points will be awarded to those projects that can document a high need area where the homeless count is greater than 500 persons within the City or County that the development is located.

Targeted Supportive Housing Populations – 5 points

Projects that have demonstrated in their Supportive Service Plan to serve chronically homeless people will receive 5 points.

Continuum of Care support and engagement – 4 points

The minimum PSH threshold requirements include submission of a letter of support from the local Continuum of Care (CoC). In addition to the support letter, points may be awarded if there is documentation demonstrating that the development team has attended a meeting with the CoC housing planning body during the planning phase to ensure that the stability of tenants and the project are integrated in the community and that there are strong social support networks available to meets the needs of the PSH tenants.

Successful PSH Outcomes – 2 points

If the Developer has 50 or more units of PSH, 2 additional points will be awarded if documentation is submitted with this application that clearly demonstrates that the annual average economic vacancy within the PSH units is at or below 5%. If the development has both PSH units and non‐PSH units, data should be provided for the entire development. However, to receive points, the PSH units must meet the 5% average economic vacancy target.

Housing First Model – 4 points

Points will be awarded to supportive housing models that are collaboratively meeting the needs of the community to reduce the high costs of current system usage such as emergency rooms, police and emergency response systems and other community funded services. To receive points there must be a demonstrated use of assessment tools that identify and prioritize the referrals to serve the most vulnerable. Include a description of the referral process and centralized intake assessment that prioritizes the referrals for the waiting list that will be utilized at this development. The model must support moving persons quickly into housing from settings such as streets or shelters without preconditions of treatment acceptance or compliance. Sobriety and medication compliance cannot be an entrance requirement.  

Other Policies

Additional requirements are listed in Michigan’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program Supportive Housing Set-aside (Addendum III). For more information, see http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mshda/mshda_li_ca_05_addendum_iii_183854_7.pdf

Developer Experience – 9 points maximum

3 points -- Developer owns and operates 50 or more units of supportive housing.  

3 points -- Lead Agency has experience providing services for 50 or more units of supportive housing

3 points -- Management Company has experience managing 50 or more units of supportive housing.