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Tax overhaul could chill US affordable housing construction

Tax overhaul could chill US affordable housing construction | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2017, file photo, Steve, who declined to give his last name, sits with his young son and a sign asking for money near an upscale hotel in downtown Portland, Ore. Municipal governments worry the tax overhaul in Washington, D.C. could chill the construction of affordable housing as homelessness reaches a crisis point on the West Coast. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Municipal governments worry the tax overhaul in Washington, D.C. could chill the construction of affordable housing as homelessness reaches a crisis point on the West Coast.

Officials with the housing authority in Portland, Oregon, said Tuesday that the U.S. could lose nearly 1 million units of affordable housing over 10 years if the final bill eliminates the tax-exempt status for a type of bond commonly used by developers to finance affordable housing.

The so-called private activity bonds are issued by state and local governments to private companies to finance qualified projects.

The House version would remove their tax-exempt status, making them essentially useless.

Uncertainty over the bonds’ future has developers racing to lock in financing and has raised costs considerably for some projects, including a large housing complex in Portland.

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Abbey Westbury

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