Michigan Created a Housing Tax Credit With No Cost-Per-Unit Measurement and No End Date.

How will Michigan taxpayers know whether a subsidized apartment cost them $50,000, $150,000, or far more?

Michigan Senate Bill 966 creates a state version of the federal low-income housing tax credit. Beginning with the 2027 award cycle, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority may award up to $42 million a year in credits for qualified rental-housing projects.

That is the starting point. The cap rises with inflation every year. The program has no sunset. The law does not require public reporting of the taxpayer cost for each unit produced or preserved.

Michigan needs more housing that working families can afford. Public Act 23 directs money toward building new units and preserving existing ones. At least 30 percent of the designated awards must go to rural areas. Projects using Michigan-made building components receive preference. Long-term affordability agreements and recapture reporting provide some program controls.

They do not answer the question taxpayers need answered: How much public money did each unit actually cost?

Without that measurement, public officials can celebrate an increased number of units while saying very little about the rising public cost behind each one. Taxpayers may see the ribbon cutting. They will not receive the calculation that shows whether the same money could have produced more housing another way.

Picture the first $42 million award cycle in 2027. Each later cycle begins from a higher inflation-adjusted cap. Projects receive credits across a six-year period. New commitments can be added while prior commitments are still working through the system.

No scheduled expiration forces lawmakers to stop, examine the cost per unit, and decide whether the program should continue. The credit remains in place while its annual cap climbs automatically.

Developers apply to MSHDA. The agency decides which qualified projects receive credits within statutory categories and set-asides. Investors can then receive and divide those credits through the entities financing the projects.

That structure can produce housing. It can also place layers of developers, investors, and administrators between the taxpayer and the finished apartment. Every layer can add cost. The statute does not require MSHDA to put one clear number before the public showing the total state credit divided by the homes delivered.

The law requires financial-feasibility limits and affordability agreements. Those provisions protect the operation of approved projects. They do not measure whether taxpayers received enough housing for the money surrendered through the credit.

The missing sunset compounds the problem. Lawmakers never have to hold a renewal vote. The program never has to earn another term. Its annual credit cap grows while its most important performance number remains optional.

Public Act 23 addresses a real housing shortage with a tax credit that starts at $42 million, grows with inflation, and never expires. It can produce more units while hiding whether taxpayers are paying more and more for each one.

Michigan gave the tax credit an automatic increase. Taxpayers received no automatic measurement and no date when the program must justify its continued existence.

This is our read of the law. We encourage you to read it yourself and reach your own conclusions.