North Carolina House Bill HB245

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

Caption

House Bill 245

Summary

House Bill 245 is titled the Affordable Housing in Rural Areas Act and is aimed at increasing the development of affordable housing in rural communities and in counties with higher poverty levels. The bill amends the state’s bond and tax-credit allocation framework, but its main policy change is directed at the North Carolina Federal Tax Reform Allocation Committee’s administration of the low-income housing tax credit program. It requires the Committee to adopt and administer the annual Qualified Allocation Plan only if the plan incentivizes affordable housing in rural and high-poverty areas. The bill also adds specific scoring and process requirements for the housing credit plan. Before adopting or changing the plan, the Committee must publish notice, notify prior applicants and interested parties, accept comments, and hold at least one public hearing. In allocating credits, the bill directs the Committee to use a radius-based distance measure for amenities, give favorable treatment to small municipalities within 10 miles of key amenities, define grocery amenities broadly, and award credits to the higher-poverty site when applications are tied. The bill takes effect October 1, 2025, and applies to Qualified Allocation Plans adopted after that date.

Impact

HB245 would change how North Carolina allocates low-income housing tax credits by constraining the Qualified Allocation Plan to favor rural and poorer communities and by prescribing specific scoring criteria for site selection. It would also reinforce public participation requirements in the plan-adoption process. Although the bill includes existing bond-allocation language, its practical impact is centered on housing-credit administration and could shift tax credit awards toward projects in rural areas, small towns, and high-poverty counties.

Sentiment

The available context suggests generally positive or supportive intent, with the bill framed as an affordable housing measure for underserved rural areas. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes showing opposition or debate in the provided materials, and the bill had only been referred to committee at the time of the record. The overall tone of the legislation is policy-driven and targeted rather than controversial on its face.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the bill’s prescriptive rules for the Qualified Allocation Plan and the degree to which it limits administrative discretion. Housing developers or administrators could object to the mandated radius-based scoring, the 10-mile preference for small municipalities, the broad definition of grocery amenities, and the tie-breaker favoring higher-poverty areas. Another possible issue is the bill’s requirement that the Committee only adopt a plan that meets the bill’s rural and poverty-focused incentives, which could be seen as narrowing flexibility in allocating tax credits across competing housing priorities.