Add your organization to this letter to oppose the Ohio Senate's plan to eliminate the Ohio Housing Finance Agency's independence!
Without any public discussion, the Ohio Senate suddenly proposed abolishing OHFA and placing its programs under the Ohio Department of Development. This would make the process of affordable housing development more bureaucratic and politicized. In 2005, the legislature made OHFA an independent agency in order to reduce bureaucracy and create a firewall between developers and politicians. Join the sign-on letter below to defend affordable housing in Ohio!
Dear Members of the Ohio Senate:
The undersigned organizations share a mutual understanding that decent, affordable housing is the foundation for self-sufficiency, improved health outcomes, vitality in distressed communities, and economic growth. Therefore, we respectfully request that the Senate reject the proposal in Substitute Bill 33 to replace the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) with the Governor’s Office of Housing Transformation within the Ohio Department of Development. We ask that the House’s version of the budget be restored, as it pertains to all provisions related to housing.
The Senate’s proposal increases bureaucracy, reduces independent oversight of housing programs.
As proposed, the Senate budget would remove OHFA’s ability to issue bonds, audit and monitor projects, and direct financing programs to achieve its mission of maximizing affordable housing production in the State, and require approval from the Tax Credit Authority to finance multifamily housing projects (LSC Comparison Document Pg. 151).
Decades ago, OHFA was a division of the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), but in 2005, the Ohio General Assembly intentionally removed OHFA from ODOD to “make the agency more independent so it can more quickly adapt its programs and structure to the needs of state residents.” The State made this change to conform with best practices across the country and to specifically allow OHFA to be an independent entity that would act as a firewall between elected officials and developers to administer a wider range of affordable housing and community development programs to meet the needs of Ohio
The Senate’s proposal reverses this decision, shifting the State’s approach away from best practice, adding bureaucratic hurdles, and jeopardizing Ohio’s economic growth. Indeed, most housing finance agencies across the country are independent entities, designed to balance competing interests and prevent the politicization of housing development programs.
The Senate’s proposal will put affordable housing further out of reach for Ohioans.
Since 1986, OHFA has helped finance the construction or preservation of nearly 150,000 affordable rental units. Unfortunately, the need for affordable rental housing has grown even faster, especially in recent years. A March study found that Ohio has a deficit of 270,000 housing units for extremely low-income families, a shortage that grew 6% worse in one year. Almost 70% of extremely low-income Ohioans are severely rent-burdened, spending more than 50% of their income on rent. As currently structured, OHFA leverages limited resources allocated by the federal government to successfully facilitate housing investment and generate economic benefits for Ohio by leveraging public-private partnerships to drive affordable housing production. Currently, Ohio is competitive in its efforts to attract private affordable housing investment because states with stable, consistent, and transparent programs, like OHFA, attract higher prices for their tax credits, which draws more investment.
Increasing bureaucracy and the potential for political interference in the tax credit allocation process will likely result in decreasing the value of Ohio’s tax credits. This would reduce private investment and push affordable housing further out of reach for many Ohioans. A drop in tax credit pricing results in fewer projects being developed in the state. Every 10-cent reduction in pricing would result in 400 -1,000 fewer affordable homes available, at a time when Ohioans are already struggling to afford the homes, they live in.
Given the current dire need for affordable housing in Ohio, it would be detrimental to disrupt the progress OHFA has made since 2005 when the legislature intentionally made it an independent agency. In the years ahead, OHFA must continue to be a key player in addressing Ohio’s housing challenges. To do so, OHFA must remain an independent agency so that it can, without disruption, continue to:
- Self-fund its own operations and be highly rated nationally; Administer essential federal rental housing resources;
- Provide reliable sources of capital in the affordable housing system;
- Substantially increase its impact by continuing to grow its assets and net worth, and;
- Reach underserved borrowers and markets
Furthermore, we are concerned that other changes in the substitute bill regarding the Historic Preservation Tax Credit, Opportunity Zones, Community Reinvestment Areas, and Tax Increment Financing will also stifle private investment in affordable housing. We urge the Senate to remove these provisions and restore language in the House’s version of the budget to create a new Workforce Housing Tax Credit program and implement a uniform valuation method for assessing local property taxes. Enacting these proposals will better position our State to address the shortage of affordable housing in Ohio.
Sincerely,
Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO)
Enterprise Community Partners
Habitat for Humanity of Ohio
NeighborWorks Collaborative of Ohio
Finance Fund
Ohio CDC Association
CHN Housing Partners
Corporation for Supportive Housing
Community Shelter Board... 