Montezuma County to let CHFA use expiring private-activity bond cap to support multifamily housing

Bond counsel to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority told the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners that the county holds carryforward private-activity bond volume cap that will expire unless used this year.

The county currently holds $1,429,096 of volume cap from a 2021 statewide balance award and $2,050,279 from a 2022 award, the counsel said. He described a resolution for the board to delegate authority to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) so CHFA can apply the county’s volume cap to multifamily housing financings closing this year.

Private-activity bond volume cap is allocated under the federal tax code and limits how much tax‑exempt private-activity bonding can be issued within a state each year, the counsel said. He added that Colorado receives about $700 million of volume cap annually, that CHFA receives roughly 48–50% of the state allocation, and that demand in the multifamily sector greatly exceeds available cap.

The counsel told commissioners the county’s 2021 allocation ‘‘expires at the end of this year’’ if not used and noted that carryforward under state and federal rules can be used for up to three years. He said the county initially received the 2021 award in support of a project in Cortez that ultimately did not proceed, leaving the cap available to reallocate.

County commissioners indicated they had no questions about the proposal and that they understood CHFA would be able to reallocate the cap to other projects statewide. The counsel said CHFA expects projects to close imminently and that, if paperwork is completed, CHFA would deploy the cap within days.

The board did not record a vote on the resolution during the discussion reflected in the transcript.

Next steps: county staff and counsel will finalize the paperwork to effectuate any delegation the board directs and transmit documents to CHFA, according to meeting remarks.