Treasury's CDFI Fund Announces Availability of New Markets Tax Credits for 2017

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The NMTC Coalition was pleased to see the U.S. Department of the Treasury release the Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA) today for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) competition for calendar year (CY) 2017. The CDFI Fund, which manages the NMTC program at Treasury, will provide $3.5 billion in NMTC allocations to be deployed in low-income rural and urban communities.

"To date, the CDFI Fund has made 1,032 awards, totaling $50.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority, to promote public-private partnerships and spur investment to some of our nation's hardest hit and persistently poor communities," said Bob Rapoza, spokesperson for the NMTC Coalition. "As a result, this highly competitive program has leveraged over $80 billion in investments to locally-driven projects and created more than 750,000 jobs."

Established in 2000 in the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act (P.L.106-554), the New Markets Tax Credit is a bipartisan effort to stimulate investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities. Congress extended the NMTC for five years as part of The PATH Act. (P.L. 114-113) in December 2015.

U.S. Department of the Treasury data indicates more than 72 percent of NMTC activity is in severely distressed communities with unemployment rates at least 1.5 times the national average or with poverty rates of at least 30 percent. In FY 2016 alone, the CDFI Fund, which operates the program at Treasury, reported that the NMTC delivered $3.16 billion in financing to 530 businesses, community facilities, and economic revitalization projects. Communities put the capital to work, creating nearly 11,000 permanent jobs and almost 27,000 construction jobs in areas with high unemployment and poverty.

Legislation was introduced in the House and Senate in February to secure the future of the NMTC. Congressmen Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and two colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressmen Tom Reed (R-NY) and Richard Neal (D-MA), the Ranking Member on the committee, introduced the House bill. The bill currently has 25 Republican cosponsors and 20 Democratic cosponsors.  In the Senate, the bill was introduced by Senators Blunt (R-MO) and Cardin (D-MD) and has 5 Republicans and 6 Democrats signed on. The bills, both titled The New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2017, respectively H.R. 1098 and S. 384, would ensure that rural communities and urban neighborhoods left outside the economic mainstream have access to financing to grow their economies, build up businesses and create jobs.

"At a time when in Congress is increasingly elusive, the strong bipartisan support of the NMTC is a testament to its proven ability to revitalize communities that need investment the most," said Bob Davenport, president of the NMTC Coalition and special advisor to the National Development Council.

For examples of how the NMTC is making an impact in each state, see the NMTC Coalition's NMTC at Work in Communities report or check out its Project Profile Map.

Contact: Ayrianne Parks
[email protected] 
(202) 393-5225

SOURCE New Markets Tax Credit Coalition