Rising Costs Expected to Squeeze Operating, Development Budgets

摘要

Rising costs for energy, insurance, and construction materials are likely to put a financial squeeze on low-income housing tax credit project development and operating budgets, according to one developer and an affordable housing investor. While none of his firm's projects has seen significant increases in utility bills so far, Wallace J. Scruggs, president and managing member of Housing Trust of America, LLC, a Columbia, Md.-based developer, predicted that "energy costs will go up and we'll see the impact of that this winter." Rosalyn A. Ciulla, senior vice president and manager of Key Community Development Corporation, an affordable housing investor, also said she expects to see natural gas bills jump by as much as 70 percent over last year because of hurricane-related damage to energy suppliers in the Gulf.