Rhode Island failed to use more than $1 billion for affordable housing, state senator says

Rhode Island has failed to take advantage of more than $1.3 billion in federal funding that could have been used to construct affordable housing, according to a new report released by state Sen. Samuel Bell, D-Providence.

Bell and his intern, Phoebe Dragseth, a student at Brown University, compiled the report using data from Rhode Island Housing, the Public Finance Management Board and the federal government. According to their analysis, Rhode Island missed out on an average of $197.3 million a year between 2014 and 2020.

"I think it's the answer to the question a lot of people have been asking," Bell said — namely, how the state can start building considerably more affordable housing. "That’s what I think is so exciting about this. It shows a way that we can really get to scale."

Where are the untapped millions of dollars?

The millions in untapped funds are available through 4 percent tax credits under the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program — "the federal government's largest affordable-housing subsidy program," Dragseth and Bell write.

Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2021/12/22/ri-wasted-more-than-1-billion-affordable-housing-funds-senator-says/8995376002/