Federal / Agency News

NH&RA was thrilled to welcome over 250 participants to the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in South Beach for our 2013 Annual Meeting. All conference materials, Power Point presentations, relevant articles, reports, memos, etc. are available below under the relevant session titles.

HUD recently released the FY 2013 NOFA for Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants. Individual grant awards may be for up to a maximum of $500,000. HUD notes that because FY 2013 full-year spending, the availability of funding for the program and the total amount available for Planning Grants has not yet been determined.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan recently sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Appropriations Chari Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) about the effects sequestration could have on the families, individuals and communities that rely on HUD programs.

The Appeals Court for the Federal Court of Claims recently reversed a lower-court opinion on the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. vs. United States case. The court concluded that Consolidated Edison’s Lease-In Lease-Out (LILO) transaction did not have economic substance and the purported lease was not a “true lease”.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report to Congress entitled “Tax Expenditures: Background and Evaluation Criteria and Questions.” The report examines the costs and benefits of tax expenditures and the effectiveness of specific tax expenditures in meeting their intended goals.

The New Markets Tax Credit Coalition recently released the New Markets Tax Credit Economic Report for 2003 to 2012 entitled “Measuring the Direct and Catalytic Impact of New Markets Tax Credit Investments in Low Income Communities”.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently revolved a previous Private Letter Ruling (PLR) 201214007 which indicated that power purchase agreements (PPAs) are excluded from the purchase price allocation on wind transactions.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) will meet Thursday, November 15, 2012. The meeting will be held in the Room SR325 at the Russell Senate Office Building at Constitution and Delaware Avenues NE., Washington, DC at 8:30 a.m. The ACHP was established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) to advise the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy and to comment upon federal, federally assisted, and federally licensed undertakings having an effect upon properties listed in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) will meet Thursday, November 15, 2012. The meeting will be held in the Room SR325 at the Russell Senate Office Building at Constitution and Delaware Avenues NE., Washington, DC at 8:30 a.m.

A recent Administrative Notice released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development, Notice 4679, announces that the transition to using data from the 2010 decennial Census and American Community Survey (ACS) will be delayed until March 27, 2013, when the recently passed continuing resolution expires.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released final regulations, RIN 1545-BK04, modifying the reinvestment requirements of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program to encourage investments in non-real estate businesses for working capital and equipment.

In a recent letter, twelve Freshman House Republicans urged House Leadership to extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. While these GOP Representatives note that they do not support extending all tax credits, they do contend that the NMTC is a critical source of financing for a wide variety of businesses and community facilities that provides much-needed support for vulnerable low-income communities during an especially difficult time.