by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The chair of Jacksonville’s Housing Authority emerged optimistic from a recent meeting with Gov. Jeb Bush about the chances to make an extra $20 million in state tax credits available for local low-cost housing.
Randy Evans traveled to Tallahassee last week, to ask for Bush’s support to expand the Community Contribution Tax Credit program. The program, originally conceived in Jacksonville about 10 years ago, spent about $1 million in Jacksonville last year. Its credits go to corporate sponsors of low-cost housing providers such as HabiJax, Builder’s Care and FreshMinistries. Evans wants to triple the $10 million pool available statewide every year.
The program impressed Bush, said Evans. Increasing the availability of low-cost housing supports the “ownership society,” envisioned by the governor and his brother, President George Bush. The program is designed to bring the corporate and not-for-profit sectors together, an aspect that particularly appealed to Bush, said Evans.
“The perception of the governor to this program couldn’t have been more positive,” he said. “When you get families into houses and into communities, no they’re paying taxes, their kids stay in the same school. They’re able to do their homework with a roof over their head.”
The credits have local roots. Leadership from the local HabiJax chapter played a big part in their legislative creation in the mid-1990s and former mayor John Delaney successfully lobbied to expand the program from $5 million to $10 million.
Due to local familiarity with the program, Jacksonville was able to claim a large chunk of the funds in their early years. Evans estimated Jacksonville was bringing home 60 to 70 percent of the $10 million for several years. Local officials felt bound ethically to spread word about the credit and quickly became victims of their own success. The credits started heading south to Miami and Orlando. Last year Jacksonville’s share shrank to $1 million, a sum that Evans said probably built about 21 houses at $45,000 apiece.
Expanding the program to $30 million could bring in millions more locally. Evans estimates local non-profits have the capacity to build $10 million in housing. If Jacksonville could claim $7 million it could translate to about 130 low-cost houses built yearly. The Jacksonville Housing Authority hopes to bring the public, private and non-profit sectors together to one day build 1,500 low-cost houses per year. The current rate is about 900 annually.
The Community Contribution Tax Credits are popular with corporations, because they offer donors an opportunity to leverage cash donations by also contributing land, materials, equipment or manpower.
While the donation pays for construction costs, the credit returns to the sponsor 50 percent of the sales price. This makes the cost of contributing relatively cheap. For instance, a company contributing $45,000 would receive a credit on a sales price that would likely exceed $65,000.
“This jumps out whenever I sit down with a chief financial officer. They’re looking at just $8,000 out of pocket for a $45,000 donation. And they’re putting a roof over a family’s head,” said Evans.
The leverage and rate of return on the credits appealed to the businessman in Bush. Evans said he’d like to see the program renewed and expanded during the next legislative session.
An upcoming December special session might present an early opportunity to expand. Bush said he would consider making the program part of the session he called to respond damage caused to the state by a recent run of four hurricanes. Evans said a lot of those left homeless could benefit from an increase in affordable housing.