More than $31 million will be awarded in October  

HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Board of Housing Tuesday gathered for a public meeting to determine which Montana communities to invite to move forward with housing tax credit applications.

After closely listening to presentations Monday from developers and members of the interested communities, the board chose eight affordable housing projects to submit their full applications for federal tax credits, the nation’s primary source of funding for affordable housing development.

The eight communities with the opportunity to expand affordable housing developments are: Absarokee (Homestead Lodge), Bozeman (Timber Ridge), Butte (Paxson Place), Dillon (Pioneer Meadows), Hardin (Hardin Senior Housing), Helena (Fire Tower), Missoula (Skyview) and Stevensville (Nicole Court). At least five projects will be awarded the credits this fall and will be ready to break ground on new or rehabilitated developments by spring of 2020.

“All of the developers and representatives from each community presented very good projects that truly focus on addressing their local housing needs,” said Montana Board of Housing Executive Director Bruce Brensdal. “Having more need than federal tax credits available makes it even more difficult for board members to make their decisions.”

Federal tax credits allocated by the Board will fund the construction or rehabilitation of approximately 200 rental units each year. This supports the creation of more than 485 jobs, about $20.6 million in local wages, and more than $2 million in new taxes and revenues for local governments.

While the Board can fund an estimated 200 affordable homes each year, the need is more than twice that. This year, developers presented 15 new or rehabilitated projects.