FY 2016 Appropriations Omnibus Passed
Today Congress and the White House passed an omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2016.
An omnibus bill packages all 12 annual appropriations bills that will fund government operations in a given fiscal year. The omnibus bill for FY 2016 is not perfect, but it does address some of NAHMA’s most important goals, especially rental assistance programs. Below is a chart containing the funding figures provided for HUD and Rural Development affordable housing programs in the omnibus bill compared to the FY 2015 enacted level:
| HUD Programs |
FY 2016 Omnibus |
FY 2015 Enacted Level |
| Tenant-Based Rental Assistance |
$19,628 |
$19,304 |
| Contract Renewals |
[17,681] |
[17,486] |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance |
$10,622 |
$9,730 |
| Contract Renewals |
[10,407] |
[9,520] |
| Contract Administrators |
[215] |
[210] |
| Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Sec. 202) |
$432 |
$420 |
| Service Coordinators |
[77] |
[70] |
| Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Sec. 811) |
$150 |
$135 |
| Community Development Block Grant |
$3,000 |
$3,000 |
| HOME |
$950 |
$900 |
| Rural Housing Programs |
FY 2016 Omnibus |
FY 2015 Enacted Level |
| Section 521 Rental Assistance |
$1,389 |
$1,088 |
| Section 515 |
$28.398 |
$28.40 |
| Multifamily Revitalization |
$37.0 |
$24 |
| Vouchers |
[$15.0] |
[$7] |
| Section 538 Loan Level |
$150 |
$150 |
The omnibus provides a total of $10.622 billion for the Project-Based Section 8 (PBS8) program in FY 2016, of which $10.407 billion is provided for the renewal of contracts. The contract renewal amount is $887 million above the FY 2015 enacted level. NAHMA learned that lawmakers and HUD have determined that $10.407 will be sufficient to fund all contracts for their full 12-month terms beginning on January 1, 2016.
The funding provided to affordable housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development (RD) is strong in the omnibus and will assist the agency in addressing its recent shortfall in the Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) program. The omnibus provides a total of $1.389 billion for the Section 521 RA program. This amount is $301 million above the FY 2015 enacted level. NAHMA anticipates that this large increase will allow RD to compensate owners who did not receive RA this summer and fall.
If you are an owner or manager of a Section 521 property and you continue to have issues with RA funding, we ask that you contact NAHMA staff as soon as possible. We want to ensure that all properties are funded for their full 12-month term and we would want RD to be aware of any lingering issues.
NAHMA will continue to monitor the most important program considerations such as the funding for rental assistance programs in FY 2016. We want to ensure that all affordable housing programs have received full-funding through the omnibus so that situations like the Section 521 RA contract shortfall calamity do not occur in other programs.
If you would like to read more about the FY 2016 omnibus, please
click here to view a recent NAHMAnalysis on the bill.
Congress Passes Tax Extenders Bill
Attached to the omnibus bill was a tax extenders bill titled the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015. A tax extenders bill continues a number of tax relief provisions that expired at the end of the previous fiscal year. Lawmakers have been consistently passing tax extenders legislation in lieu of tax reform in order to prevent tax increases on families and businesses.
NAHMA’s main concern for any tax extenders bill is the inclusion of provisions to permanently establish a 9 percent minimum credit rate for new construction and a 4 percent minimum credit rate for property rehabilitation under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). We have also advocated for this change throughout the recent tax reform discussions.
In a major victory for the LIHTC, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act makes permanent the 9-percent minimum credit rate. NAHMA is very pleased with this result and this change will help remove the uncertainty and risk placed on private investors when a minimum credit rate is not defined. However, the bill does not contain an establishment of the 4-percent minimum credit rate for property rehabilitation. NAHMA continues to urge Congress to make permanent the 4 percent minimum credit rate so that LIHTC acquisition and rehabilitation projects are not subjected to the unpredictable floating rate system.
