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Housing agencies back a state-certified affordable-housing property class to protect low-cost units
Summary
The Vermont Housing Finance Agency and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board told Ways & Means that creating a state-administered affordable-housing property classification (building on Act 68) would help preserve thin-margin rental properties, reduce operating uncertainty and support long-term production of permanently affordable units.
For the record, I'm Chad Simmons with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, he said as he opened testimony on the proposed affordable-housing property classification.
Representatives of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) told the Ways & Means Committee that a state-certified classification for affordable housing would add predictability to the narrow operating margins of perpetually affordable rental properties and improve application of existing valuation adjustments under Act 68.
The Nut Graf: Chad Simmons (VHFA) and Polly Majer (policy director, VHCB) said an affordable-housing classification administered by a state agency — with VHFA helping maintain the directory of certified properties — would protect long-term affordability, help small operating budgets absorb tax costs, and expand the pool of projects that could safely carry private debt and leverage state funding to build more units.
Simmons summarized VHFA’s certification work and…
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