Juneau Economic Development Council

City and Borough of Juneau Housing Portal

Affordable Housing Trust Funds

Affordable Housing Trust Funds are public sector tools used to direct financial resources to the development of affordable housing for low-income households. Affordable Housing Trust Funds are established by legislation or ordinance. They are most effective with a local dedicated revenue source.

The beauty of Affordable Housing Trust Funds is that they are designed locally to target the most pressing housing need in the community. The three main components of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund are management of the fund, program design, and source of revenue.

Fund Management
Affordable Housing Trust Funds are typically administered by a public agency, although there are examples of non-profit entities or quasi-public organizations that administer a fund. An oversight board is usually established with the ordinance and stipulates that the make-up of the board reflects a broad range of housing interests.

Program Design
Depending on local affordable housing needs, funds can be directed into a wide-range of programs;

  • Homebuyer assistance
  • Subsidized rental assistance
  • Support for nonprofit housing developers

Source of Revenue
Revenue sources for Affordable Housing Trust Funds come from both public and private funds. The key is for at least one source to be a dedicated source of revenue so that affordable housing needs are continually addressed. Examples include:

  • Public Funds:
    • Revenue from Development Ordinances, Fees, or Taxes
      • Fees on new commercial development
      • Inclusionary zoning in-lieu fees
      • Impact fees
    • Revenue from Real Estate Taxes
    • Revenue from Other Taxes
      • Property taxes
      • Sales Tax
      • Hotel/Motel taxes (Head Tax)
  • Private Funds:
    • Grants
    • Donations
    • Other Private Contributions

The Affordable Housing Trust Fund model allows for flexibility in finding funding sources and a variety of targeted uses to help remedy the difficulties surrounding the creation of affordable housing.

For example, a local dedicated revenue source can be paired with local donations and in turn used as a match for state or federal housing funds to create innovative financing packages to support the creation of affordable housing. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund would target funds on the most pressing community housing need, multi-family apartment units or single-family homes or whatever is most needed, and could include associated services like homebuyer counseling, down payment and mortgage assistance.

The Juneau Affordable Housing Commission is working on the development of a local housing trust fund.