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We are.

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Sure, and the goal is we're not

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cutting this, right?

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We're going to try to do a...

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Right. It's about a five minute

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discussion, but you don't have to

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worry about that.

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That's my problem.

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Yeah.

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I'll let you do the hard work.

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You do the hard work, I just ask

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about it.

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Affordable rental housing across

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the state is getting a boost,

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with the Wisconsin Housing and

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Economic Development Authority

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announcing nearly $50 million

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in housing tax credits to

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developers that are expected

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to create some 5,000

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rental units for working families.

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For more on this, we are joined by

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WIDA CEO Elmer Moore Jr.,

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and thanks very much for being here.

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I am delighted to be here and

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share with you some of the good news

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of the work we've been doing.

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Where is the need most acute

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for affordable rentals and

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will these developments be located

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in those areas?

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You know, an interesting thing about

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housing in today's

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environment is that it's acute

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everywhere.

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The need for affordable housing is

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experienced in rural, small

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urban, and in

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the city centers.

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And so wherever we can make

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strategic investments in

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the form of housing tax credits

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across the state, they're going to

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be desperately appreciated.

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And I want to make one minor

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correction. And this is.

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Uh, going to finance

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more like

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2,128

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units, but those units

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are going to support probably close

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to 5,000, uh,

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residents.

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I see. So it's residents, not

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units.

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Absolutely, yes.

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Gotcha.

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So, and these

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developments and developers will be

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working across the state.

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Absolutely.

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It's 35 developments.

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You know, one of the realities is

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that we have not seen

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a tax credit development in all

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72 Wisconsin counties,

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but in this instance,

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we're going to be looking at

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26 communities across the

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state, which is actually pretty

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successful.

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What is the definition of

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affordable?

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I'm so glad you asked that,

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and I'm going to give you two

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definitions.

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When we talk about affordable

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housing, usually what we're

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referring to is what

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I refer to as capital A affordable,

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which means a subsidized

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housing development that is

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rent restricted to people

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with incomes 80%

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or below of the area median income.

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These are often financed with

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tax credits or other public

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sources.

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The other side of affordability is

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really just housing that occupies

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no more than 30%

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of a family's income.

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So we have started a

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conversation about affordable

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housing with that capital A.

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Also housing that people can afford,

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which might be unrestricted, but

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it's not necessarily as expensive

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as what we have historically called

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market rates.

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So how do the tax credits

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accrue to developers?

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This is a great question.

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Housing tax credits work very

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differently than so many other

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kinds of tax credits.

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A developer or a

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community applies for

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competitive or non-competitive

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tax credits, and they

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sell those credits to

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an investor.

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The investor has the ability to

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write down their tax liability for

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up to 10 years, depending on the

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type of credit.

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For that amount every year.

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So, for instance, a million-dollar

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tax credit award can

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generate something like

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$9 million in equity,

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you know, awarded by developers

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who will, for 10 years,

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write off a million dollar

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investment from their tax liability.

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The value of tax credits to

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housing is it makes it possible

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for the development of housing that

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will be income and rent restricted.

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But still operate in a

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sometimes profitable way, but

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certainly a solvent way.

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It's just...

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Otherwise... Go ahead.

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Yes, I'm sorry.

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I was just going to ask if this is a

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model that has worked historically.

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The the lie tech program, the

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low income housing tax credit

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program was a

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bipartisan effort from

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1986.

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This was Ronald Reagan's

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administration's work.

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It is well understood

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as the most successful

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private published private-public

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partnership in

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our country's history.

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It has generated hundreds of

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thousands of rental

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housing units and home ownership

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units across the country.

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For WETA alone, we're talking 61,000

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units have been created using the

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housing tax credit program.

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You know, we have deployed, are you

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ready for this number?

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644 million dollars

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in just tax credits.

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That has really moved

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the needle and it has incentivized

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the investment of

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communities and developers in

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the form of housing across the

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state.

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How does a lack of such

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kind of affordable rental units

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affect the economic health of the

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state not to mention the

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needs of lower-income renters?

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That is playing out

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in the form of diminished health

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outcomes.

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There's an aspect to

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educational outcomes.

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Everything that we care about in our

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society is impacted by whether

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or not people have safe,

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stable housing.

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If they can't afford the housing

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that they're occupying, and very

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many people, something like 60%

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of renters are

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in housing that actually is

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considered unaffordable. They are

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rent-burdened.

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The economic outcomes is they're not

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able to make very key investments in

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things that will support them

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thriving, whether that's child care,

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investing in their own education,

193
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access to health care, whether it's

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the choice between paying rent

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or putting gas in your car so

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you can get to work on time.

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Housing is at the very core

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of how we experience life.

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You know, it's people who don't

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sleep well because they're

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cold, because they are cramped,

202
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because the quality of the housing

203
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that they have access to is

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affecting their health.

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They're not able to get to work on

206
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time. They're able to make

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investments in our economy.

208
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They're showing up to school while

209
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rested to learn.

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Everything is better when housing is

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better.

212
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Is it the expectation though that

213
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because of declining working age

214
00:07:15,370 --> 00:07:17,469
population the need for

215
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new housing units like this will

216
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also decline?

217
00:07:21,860 --> 00:07:23,839
Unfortunately, that isn't exactly

218
00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:24,939
the case.

219
00:07:24,940 --> 00:07:26,899
There's multitudes of housing,

220
00:07:26,900 --> 00:07:29,099
whether it's senior housing,

221
00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:31,119
family housing, housing for people

222
00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,319
with special physical or cognitive

223
00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:34,320
needs.

224
00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,919
In Wisconsin, 60%

225
00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:39,779
of the housing is more than 40

226
00:07:39,780 --> 00:07:40,759
years old.

227
00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:41,899
You know, I live in a house that's

228
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120, and I can guarantee you,

229
00:07:44,180 --> 00:07:46,239
when those craftsmen were building

230
00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:47,539
that structure, they didn't

231
00:07:47,540 --> 00:07:49,379
necessarily plan for me to be living

232
00:07:49,380 --> 00:07:51,619
in it 120 years later.

233
00:07:51,620 --> 00:07:54,519
That's how housing has always been.

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We are in a crisis because

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00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:58,459
housing is both unaffordable,

236
00:07:58,460 --> 00:07:59,999
we aren't producing enough of it,

237
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,019
and what we have is often aging out.

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00:08:03,310 --> 00:08:05,009
Well Elmer Moore, we leave it there.

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00:08:05,010 --> 00:08:06,110
Thank you so much for joining us.

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I'm so grateful.

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00:08:08,350 --> 00:08:09,350
Thank you for your time.

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Correct that number as well.

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Thank you

244
00:08:17,619 --> 00:08:19,679
We will correct we will

245
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correct that number that

246
00:08:21,500 --> 00:08:22,839
we set at the head.

247
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Thank you

248
00:08:24,630 --> 00:08:25,630
That sounds great.

249
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Have an amazing weekend.

250
00:08:27,450 --> 00:08:27,890
Thanks for your time.

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00:08:27,891 --> 00:08:29,299
Thank you. You too.

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It was nice to see you.

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Nice to see you.

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00:08:36,900 --> 00:08:38,819
All right, so I

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got two leads to redo.