Flagstaff official describes incentives, bond spending and monitoring practices to spur workforce housing

Jennifer, a Flagstaff housing official, summarized the city’s approach to encouraging workforce housing at a Prescott City Workforce Housing Committee meeting. She told committee members Flagstaff uses zoning incentives, municipal funding and city-owned land to attract developers and increase the chances of obtaining low-income housing tax credits.

Jennifer said a combination of regulatory incentives in the zoning code and “financial incentive[s]” is the most effective way to attract builders. “If you can swing that in financially, we have an incentive policy that is funded by our general fund,” she said, adding the city also benefited from a voter-approved general obligation bond.

The $20,000,000 bond, she said, was divided into four primary spending categories: about $7,000,000 for down-payment assistance; $5,000,000 for developer incentives for multifamily rental projects; $3,000,000 to support adaptive reuse…