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OHCS staff proposes requiring tax‑credit leverage for larger ORCA projects
Summary
As ORCA resources tighten, staff proposed limiting gap‑only eligibility to projects under 45 units and requiring tax‑credit leverage for projects above that threshold; council members raised concerns about readiness and impacts to projects already queued.
OHCS staff used the midyear ORCA update to propose tighter stewardship of limited state subsidy by changing how the ORCA wait list operates.
Staff described two existing ORCA wait lists and said the agency is considering a draft recommendation to "shift the bar" so that gap‑only eligibility would be limited to projects under 45 units and projects over 45 units would only be eligible if they apply with tax‑credit leverage. Staff said projects on the existing wait list would be offered an opportunity to update applications to align with the new leverage requirement and that the change aims to preserve scarce state subsidy by attracting private tax‑credit equity.
Council members asked how this would affect projects that are "ready to move forward" and warned that delaying funding for projects that have completed permitting and procurement could increase costs and derail schedules. Staff said ORCA has readiness standards and is exploring stronger letters of intent and other tools to reduce the risk that projects lose momentum while waiting for subsidy. Director Bell and several councilors framed the proposal as a trade‑off driven by constrained general fund resources and the availability of federal tax credits; no formal policy change was voted at the June 5 meeting and staff asked for council feedback.
