Dallas committee holds public hearing on proposed HFC and PFC rule changes as developers and boards urge caution

The Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee held a public hearing April 22 to take comments on proposed changes to the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation (DHFC) and Dallas Public Facility Corporation (DPFC) program statements and bylaws.

The hearing drew more than two dozen speakers including developers, board members, housing advocates and city staff. Developers and industry groups urged the committee to delay or abandon the proposals, saying several recommended changes — notably a proposed requirement that PFC projects be limited to census tracts with 20 percent or greater poverty and a push for deeper income targeting below 50 percent of area median income (AMI) — would make many projects financially infeasible. "If these changes were in place, neither would have moved forward," said Reinhardt "Swede" Hansen, founder of Smart Living Residential.

Why it matters: The proposed changes touch how two local quasi‑public entities use tax exemptions and other tools to finance workforce and affordable housing across Dallas. Proponents of preserving the current program structure argued DHFC and DPFC have produced the majority of the city’s recent affordable units and that adding mandated geographic or deeper‑AMI constraints now could halt projects in the pipeline.

Developers’ concerns and market context David Ellis, who identified himself as the District 10 representative on the DHFC board, explained why some DHFC projects include units at higher AMI bands to qualify for tax benefits: "If we were to require all restricted units to be banded to 80% AMI or below, then this will negate the benefit of the property tax abatement, and these projects will no longer become viable," he said. Ellis described typical per‑unit…