The Carroll City Council voted 4-2 during a special session last night (Wednesday) to approve a memorandum of understanding with a housing developer to facilitate the city’s Iowa Thriving Community application to the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA). City Manager Aaron Kooiker says he has been talking with Hoppe & Sons, LLC, of Lincoln, Neb., and they’ve expressed interest in working in Carroll.
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LIHTC, or Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, are managed by IFA and offered to towns and cities that are designated as an “Iowa Thriving Community (ITC).” Developers can use these tax credits to offset the cost of new construction, and at least a portion of the units must be reserved for lower-income residents. According to Kooiker, the memo, which he requested from the company months ago, improves the city’s chances of an ITC designation. Mayor Jerry Fleshner asks what financial obligations might come in the future.
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Local buy-in from the city is a minimum of $1,000 per unit, which could be in the form of tax abatements, infrastructure installation, or other incentives. Ward 2 Councilman Jason Atherton says he is hopeful Carroll earns the ITC designation but is frustrated by the need to host a special meeting in order to make the IFA’s May 12 application deadline.
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Atherton adds he wants an ITC designation for Carroll, but he would prefer they have a more fleshed-out plan to present to the IFA in the application. Ward 3 Councilman Kyle Bauer says the question before the council isn’t to approve a specific project. Rather, it is to secure LIHTCs for future ones.
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When asked, City Attorney Dave Bruner clarifies for the council that this memo does not commit the city to any financial support, nor does it specifically promise credits to Hoppe & Sons, LLC. A motion to approve the memorandum of understanding passed 4-2, with Atherton and At-Large Councilwoman JJ Schreck voting against. The ITC designations won’t be announced until this fall. If Carroll earns the designation, the associated tax credits wouldn’t be allocated until Spring 2026. At that time, the council would then vet applications and proposals for the credits from developers, local or otherwise, interested in using them.