Remarks by:
Richard Michael Price, Esq.
Counsel to CARH
Nixon Peabody LLP
202.585.8716
Washington, D.C.
Addressing the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing:
I think the biggest news from the Rural Housing Service itself is that
there really isn’t much news from the Rural Housing Service. This is in
large part because there is a new Secretary of Agriculture and there is some
controversy with her nominee for Under Secretary for Rural Development.
Hopefully, we’ll get that person or some other person on board shortly and be
able to move a few things forward. In the interim, we’re trying to work with
her staff, as we always do.
One thing that I’m personally keeping my eyes peeled for, which I’m
hoping will happen in the next few weeks (or that’s what my understanding
is), are some changes to the 538 program. These will allow the program to be
used for rehabilitation and also lower the thresholds from $15,000 of rehab
per unit to around $3,000, or so I’ve been told. These kinds of things are
very tricky and you never actually know what’s going to happen until it does
happen.
Price / Meyers Full Employment Act
One of the panels tomorrow will cover H.R. 5640. This is a fairly
interesting piece of legislation. I think it went through when most folks
weren’t looking. One person that I spoke to at the RHS Agency referred to it
as the “Richard Price / John Meyers Full Employment Act.” It is basically a
set of Enforcement provisions. They are fairly interesting looking — even
fairly draconian looking — but I think that the proof will be in the
implementation. The real question is in trying to nail the Rural Housing
Service down on what are and aren’t project expenses. That’s why I think I
think the work that a great number of you have been doing on revisions to AN
3515 has been quite useful in resolving on a going forward basis.
On the Tax Credit front, probably the biggest news has, of course, been
the TAMs that were issued. We have two things going right now. One is the
legislative effort to address the TAMS, hopefully to come up with
definitions that will reverse this whole notion that we have to sit down and
figure out if an improvement is actually for the building versus the land.
But I think the effort that will most likely yield results in the short run
is the Industry Resolution type of program, which is a relatively new thing
that the IRS is doing: Collect a handful of issues, such as TAMs, and tackle
the issue on a broad base.
Next: “A Road Trip With the IG — or,
Down Memory Lane”