The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) has awarded of $11.2 million from the State Housing Trust Fund to local housing trust funds across Iowa, including $1,029,304 to the Polk County Housing Trust Fund (PCHTF). This is the largest amount the state fund has ever allocated to local initiatives overall and the largest allocation it has made to PCHTF specifically.
Funds from this award support "bricks and mortar" housing development, primarily new affordable rental housing development. PCHTF allocates funds locally through a competitive grant-making process, governed by our housing allocation plan and approved by our board of directors.
Remaining funds we allocate to housing development come from Polk County. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022, PCHTF awarded just more than $1.9 million for housing development.
This year's State Housing Trust Fund allocation is the largest ever because the Iowa Legislature and Governor Reynolds joined to increase funding for the program in 2021.
The State Housing Trust Fund was created in 2003. According to the Iowa Finance Authority, since its inception, the State Housing Trust Fund has provided $112.2 million in affordable housing assistance to benefit more than 35,200 Iowa families, leveraging more than $175 million in other funding resources.
While PCHTF extends sincere gratitude to the Iowa Finance Authority and state leaders for this increased allocation, the need for additional housing investment remains significant. One estimate by the National Low Income Housing Coalition indicates Polk County needs an additional 11,635 units of housing that are affordable and available to extremely low income renters struggling to afford the place they live.