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■ Asa means of reconciling affordable housing with community development goals, <br />Metro Cities supports housing programs designed to develop market rate housing in <br />census block grants with high concentrations of poverty, where the private market <br />might not otherwise invest; <br />■ Continue the policy of using MHFA's investment earnings forhousing programs; <br />■ Metro Cities will monitor the debate regarding bonding allocation and tax credit <br />programs to ensure city input into state legislation involving distribution of tax credits <br />and tax exempt bonding; <br />■ Provide exemptions from, or reductions to sales, use and transaction taxes applied to <br />the development and production of affordable housing; <br />■ Consider providing state tax credits to incent cross- subsidized affordable units in a <br />market rate development project. This incentive could be used in conjunction with city, <br />regional, or other state incentives; and <br />■ Consider the use of state bond proceeds and other appropriations for land banking and <br />land trusts. <br />III -F Federal Role in Affordable Housing <br />Metro Cities encourages the federal government to maintain and increase current levels of <br />funding for affordable housing: Federal investment in affordable housing will increase the <br />supply of affordable and life cycle housing as well as increase the inter - jurisdictional <br />collaboration between the two levels of government. Federal funding plays a critical role in <br />aiding states and local governments in their efforts to maintain and increase affordable <br />housing throughout the state. Metro Cities strongly encourages the following: <br />■ To preserve and increase funding for the Community Development Block Grant <br />Program and the federal HOME program, which are catalysts for creating more <br />affordable housing; <br />■ To create and implement a more streamlined procedural method for local units of <br />government to participate and access federal funding and services dealing with grants, <br />loans, and tax incentive programs for economic and community development efforts; <br />■ To preserve resources to sustain existing public housing throughout the Metro Area; <br />■ To commit resources to Section 8 funding. It is a flexible, cost effective, and successful <br />program that has helped nearly two million families find housing through promotion of <br />self - sufficiency and stability; and <br />16 Metro Cities <br />