Governor Tim Walz approved amendments to the 2024-2025 Housing Tax Credit Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) and the 2026-2027 QAP, including the 2026-2027 Self-Scoring Worksheet (SSW). The QAP determines the policy priorities and the process by which Minnesota Housing manages the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (HTC) Program. The QAP sets the overall funding selection priorities for the competitive Multifamily Consolidated Request for Proposals (RFP)/HTC funding rounds, which also include deferred loans funded from state and federal funding resources. 

The amended QAPs, Self-Scoring Worksheets, and Methodology Guides can be found on the Housing Tax Credits webpage. 

The QAPs were amended to include some important changes:

  • QAP Extension: The 2026-2027 QAP was extended by one year, resulting in the documents changing to the Amended 2026-2028 QAP and the Amended 2026-2028 SSW. This Amended 2026-2028 QAP will be used for the 2026 and 2027 Multifamily Consolidated RFPs/2027 and 2028 HTC funding rounds. 
  • Federal Law Change: In July 2025, Congress passed H.R. 1, and the President signed it into law. One part of the law (Section 70422) makes it easier for projects to qualify for the 4% HTC. It lowers the requirement for tax-exempt bond financing from covering at least 50% of a project’s eligible HTC costs to only 25%. This reduced bond threshold means that the same amount of tax-exempt bonds can help more projects qualify for the 4% HTC. 
    • Minnesota Housing updated Chapter 7.A of the 2024-2025 HTC QAP and Chapter 7.A, Chapter 7.B, and Appendix A of the 2026-2028 QAP to allow for the shift from the 50% test to the “Minimum Percent” test on 4% HTC projects to allow access to the change in federal tax law. The QAP language is general to account for any future changes. Our intent is to use as few tax-exempt bonds as necessary to qualify a project for 4% HTCs while supporting the financial viability of a project. 
  • State Law Change: In the 2025 Minnesota Legislative session, “Local Actions to Support Housing” was added to session law (Minnesota Laws 2025, chapter 32, article 3, section 13). This law requires Minnesota Housing, where practicable, to award additional point(s) in competitive capital development programs to proposed projects located in jurisdictions that provide certain land use and zoning flexibilities identified in the law, which cannot exceed 5% of the total available points. 
    • Minnesota Housing added Local Actions to Support Housing as a new two-point selection criterion in the Amended 2026-2028 SSW under the Supporting Community and Economic Development selection category. 

Contact the Housing Tax Credit team at [email protected] with any questions.