Low-Income Housing Tax Credit:

Project Support

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit ("LIHTC") Program is a highly competitive state-level program providing tax credits to leverage private redevelopment that increases the supply of high-quality, affordable housing. Doing this offsets the cost of housing development for individuals with low- to moderate-income, helping to make projects more feasible.

The City of Cincinnati provides letters of support to give Cincinnati projects a more competitive application. All requests will be reviewed by a Department of Community and Economic Development ("DCED") staff member alongside the Cincinnati Development Fund ("CDF") for completeness and alignment with program priorities. The support letter includes a conditional financial commitment (example linked below) from DCED and/or CDF. Neighborhood Plan letters describing how the project aligns with Plan Cincinnati or other Neighborhood plans can be provided upon request.​

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Goal​

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​Cincinnati has a housing supply shortage; matched with increased demand, this leads to higher housing costs and a deficit of affordable housing options for residents. In recognition of this, DCED aims to activate and encourage proactive and targeted housing development, supporting quality and diverse housing options, as well as supportive housing services for a variety of income levels. Funding local projects through LIHTC is a crucial piece of financing the creation and preservation of affordable housing, bringing new units online.

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Who Can Apply?

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• Affordable Housing Developers seeking to submit a 9% LIHTC application to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA).

Overview of Process

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency ("OHFA") accepts applications on an annual basis, typically in February. Approximately two months before each year’s application due date, the support letter request application opens on DCED’s website, linked below.

Interested affordable housing developers should follow the instructions and fill out the application when it becomes available. A complete application includes the following:

• The 2026 9% LIHTC Support Request Form.

• All necessary attachments are outlined in Section V of the application form.

The purpose of this application is to solicit requests for Conditional Financial Commitments that can potentially support such applications. All applications will be jointly reviewed and analyzed by the City of Cincinnati and CDF.

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Conditional Funding Commitments may be in the form of soft or hard debt that will be sourced by funds managed by the City of Cincinnati and/or CDF. Actual commitments will be contingent on receipt of a LIHTC reservation from OHFA. Commitments to projects not awarded a reservation this round will expire.