"WVHDF runs the 9% competitive round and the 4%/bond round through the exact same Allocation Plan, the exact same annual calendar, and the exact same scoresheet -- so is there really an election to make here, or am I just picking which pool of money to compete for? And if I go the bond route, who is actually issuing our bonds?"
One Plan, one calendar, two resource pools -- and no formal "hybrid"
The 2025 and 2026 Allocation Plan's own Exhibit A Program Calendar lists a single column of dates -- "9% Regular (Non-Tax-Exempt Bond Financed) and 4% Tax-Exempt Bond Financed LIHTCP Properties" -- covering both programs together. Both types of properties submit Reservation Requests in the same May application window, go through the same Threshold Review and Correction Period, and are evaluated against the same Selection and Preference Criteria scoresheet. Where they diverge is in the Property Selection and Waiting List sections of the Plan, which run separate subsections for "Non-Tax-Exempt Bond Financed Properties" (selected against the State Housing Credit Ceiling, in ranked order, until the Ceiling is exhausted) and "Tax-Exempt Bond Financed Properties" (selected against available bond volume cap, in ranked order, until the cap is exhausted, with the Fund's Debt Management Policy stating a preference for the Fund's own conduit issuances).
This research did not find any QAP-defined mechanism for combining or splitting an allocation between the two resources on a single property -- no forward-commitment structure, no partial-9%/partial-bond stacking, and no use of the word "hybrid" anywhere in the Allocation Plan or Tax Credit Manual. "Program election" in West Virginia is best understood as choosing which of two separate resource pools -- the State Housing Credit Ceiling or the bond volume cap -- a property competes against, using the identical scoresheet either way, not as a menu of blended structures.
| Set-Aside Category | Share of Ceiling | 2026 Dollar Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified Non-Profit | 10.0% | $716,099 |
| Existing Low-Income Housing Preservation | 32.0% | $2,291,513 |
| New Supply Non-Rural | 26.5% | $1,897,660 |
| New Supply Rural | 26.5% | $1,897,660 |
| Top Off (2024/2025 or 2025/2026 Carryover recipients) | 5.0% | $358,049 |
Total 2026 State Housing Credit Ceiling: $7,160,981, against which the Fund will not reserve or allocate more than $850,000 to any single property for 2026. These figures apply only to the 9% (non-bond) resource pool -- Tax-Exempt Bond Financed properties draw on the separate bond volume cap and are not counted against this Ceiling.
WVHDF is its own bond issuer, under a specific 40% statutory carve-out
West Virginia Code Section 13-2C-21 allocates the state's annual private-activity-bond "statewide cap" (set under IRC Section 146(d)) among several uses, and it reserves 40 percent of that statewide cap, off the top, "to the West Virginia Housing Development Fund for the purpose of issuing qualified mortgage bonds" and bonds for qualified residential rental projects -- before the remaining 60 percent is split among small-issue, exempt-facility, and Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community categories that are not relevant to LIHTC deals. Any unused portion of the statewide cap that is not carried forward under federal rules is likewise allocated back to WVHDF for its own carryforward use.
In practice, WVHDF is the actual issuer of its own tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds -- not merely the credit-allocating agency layered on top of a separate county or state bond authority. Recent named issuances confirm this directly: West Virginia Housing Development Fund Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds, Series 2025 (Rivermont); Series 2024 (Beckley Preservation); Series 2024 (Franklin Manor); and earlier Series 2019 and Series 2015 (C and D) bonds. The Allocation Plan's own reference to "preference to Fund conduit issuances" implies other conduit issuers are not categorically excluded in West Virginia, but this research did not identify any other entity actually issuing multifamily private-activity bonds paired with 4% Credits in the state -- a developer should confirm with WVHDF directly if a deal contemplates a non-Fund issuer.
The December 15 bond-and-equity closing deadline is a hard one: a property that receives a bond inducement resolution from the Fund's Board and then misses that date loses the bond volume cap that was set aside for it and owes a penalty fee (set in the Manual's Processing Fee section), with no extensions available. The property may reapply in a future round, but the specific volume cap allocated to it is gone.
The 50%-vs-25% aggregate-basis bond test: the Plan has not caught up to OBBBA
The Allocation Plan defines a "Tax-Exempt Bond Financed Property" as one that does not require a Credit allocation from the State Housing Credit Ceiling "due to meeting or exceeding the required percentage (currently 50 percent or more)" of the property's aggregate basis and land being financed by tax-exempt bonds subject to the state's bond volume cap. The word "currently" is the Plan's own hedge -- but this document's metadata shows it was created in February 2025 and last modified in May 2025 (matching the Governor's May 6, 2025 approval), meaning it necessarily predates the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), signed July 4, 2025, which permanently lowered the federal aggregate-basis test from 50 percent to 25 percent for bonds issued after December 31, 2025.
This research checked wvhdf.com directly for any amendment, addendum, or newer Allocation Plan addressing the 25 percent alternative and found none -- the 2025 and 2026 Allocation Plan remains the only Plan posted, with no amendment notice on the Fund's LIHTC program page. That is a real gap, not a confirmed policy choice: it does not mean WVHDF has rejected the 25 percent alternative, only that its own governing document has not yet been updated to reflect it. A deal counting on the lower 25 percent threshold to stretch bond volume cap further should get WVHDF's position in writing before underwriting to it, since the Plan's own defined-term text still says 50 percent.
No West Virginia state LIHTC -- and two programs that are not substitutes
This research did not find a West Virginia state tax credit that pairs with the federal 9% or 4% credit the way state housing tax credits do in a number of sibling states -- nothing in the Allocation Plan, the Tax Credit Manual, or a targeted search of West Virginia Code surfaced a state-administered credit tied to LIHTC equity or per-unit affordable production. That absence should be read as "not found in this research," not as an airtight confirmation that no such mechanism exists anywhere in state law; a developer building a capital stack that depends on state credit pairing should confirm directly with WVHDF and the West Virginia State Tax Department rather than rely on this silence.
Two programs surface in a search and are worth naming specifically so they are not mistaken for a state LIHTC. The West Virginia Neighborhood Investment Program (NIP) is a donation-based charitable tax credit: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit applies for a voucher allocation, then individuals or businesses that contribute at least $500 to that nonprofit's approved project receive up to a 50 percent state tax credit against the contribution -- it is not administered by WVHDF, is not tied to LIHTC equity, and does not scale with units produced. Separately, West Virginia Code Section 11-13D-5a contains a "qualified housing development project" investment tax credit dating to 1986 legislation (part of the state's broader Business Investment and Jobs Expansion Tax Credit framework): a tiered credit (0 percent, 33-1/3 percent, 66-2/3 percent, or 100 percent of eligible investment, depending on the property's useful life) for any residential development of five or more units, with no income restriction and no reference to the federal LIHTC anywhere in the section. This research could not confirm whether Section 11-13D-5a remains an actively claimed, currently administered credit in 2026 or is effectively dormant legacy law -- it should not be assumed to function as a West Virginia state LIHTC without confirming its current status with the State Tax Department.
Where this goes wrong
- Assuming West Virginia has a separate, rolling, as-of-right 4%/bond application process the way some states do -- WVHDF runs 9% and 4%/bond Reservation Requests through the identical annual May application window and the identical scoresheet.
- Looking for a QAP-defined "hybrid" 9%/4% stacking structure -- none was found; each property draws on one resource pool (the State Housing Credit Ceiling or the bond volume cap), not both.
- Assuming a non-WVHDF entity will issue the tax-exempt bonds -- WVHDF is itself the confirmed conduit issuer of its own recent multifamily housing revenue bond series, and the Plan states a preference for the Fund's own conduit issuances.
- Underwriting a bond deal to the new federal 25 percent aggregate-basis test without confirming WVHDF's position first -- the Plan's own defined-term language still reads "currently 50 percent or more" and this research found no amendment addressing the OBBBA change.
- Missing the December 15 bond-and-equity closing deadline after a bond inducement resolution -- there are no extensions, the set-aside volume cap is lost, and a penalty fee applies.
- Assuming the West Virginia Neighborhood Investment Program is a state LIHTC equivalent -- it is a donation-based charitable credit for 501(c)(3) contributions, unrelated to LIHTC equity or unit production, and not administered by WVHDF.
- Building a capital stack around West Virginia Code Section 11-13D-5a as if it were a modern state housing tax credit -- it is a 1986-era general economic-development investment credit with no income-restriction requirement and no confirmed current administration status.
- Treating the $850,000 per-property cap on 2026 State Housing Credit Ceiling reservations as a bond-deal limit too -- it applies only to the 9% (non-bond) resource pool.
- HUD
- LIHTC
- State QAPs
- IRS § 42
- Housing Finance Agencies