STATE LIHTC RESEARCH

Wisconsin
QAP scoring guide.

Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) · 2027-2028 QAP

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● Verified guideChecked Sep 12, 2026View source QAP ↗

THE POINT TABLE

Competitive scoring

16 categories

Not stated. The QAP and its appendices do not publish a historical winning-score figure or scoring summary of recent award cycles.

Select a category to read its scoring criteria.

Area of Economic Opportunity

30 pts

Combines: (a) Median Income — 10 pts if site's Census tract is at/above 120% County Median Income, 8 pts if 100-119% (per Appendix R.1); (b) School District — 5 pts "Significantly Exceeds Expectations," 3 pts "Exceeds Expectations" per WI DPI Overall Accountability Score (Appendix R.2); (c) Rent Burden — 10 pts if ≥50% of renters in the tract pay >30% of income to rent, 6 pts if 40-49.99%, 2 pts if 30-39.99% (tract must average ≥$900 rent; Appendix R.3); (d) Linkages — up to 5 pts for proximity to grocery store, school, senior center, medical clinic/hospital, library, park, or job-training facility/community college; (e) Public Transportation Score — 5 pts if within 0.5 mile of a scheduled bus stop (or an "on-call" transit program in Nonmetro/Tribal areas). Combined points from Median Income + School District + Rent Burden are capped at 20. Projects scoring in Category 3 (Tribal/Rehab/Neighborhood Stabilization/No-Recent-Award) cannot also score here.

Lower-Income Areas

2 pts

1 point if the site is within a qualifying Concerted Community Revitalization Plan (CCRP) area meeting listed criteria (geographically specific, funded investment strategy, need demonstrated, approved/amended within 10 years). 1 additional point if the site is also in a QCT or the applicant was a successful respondent to a competitive city/county RFP/RFQ (no identity of interest with the locality).

Tribal, Rehabilitation & Neighborhood Stabilization, or Counties without a Recent Award

25 pts

25 points awarded to: (a) any Tribally-owned application; (b) Neighborhood Stabilization projects meeting a detailed criteria set (city letter, ≥24 units, ≥$25,000/unit rehab spend, ≤5% year-one rent increase, not scattered-site, ≥5% of TDC in local-government financial support, relocation plan); or (c) projects located in a listed County without a Recent Award. Mutually exclusive with Category 1 (Area of Economic Opportunity).

Job Centers/Growth

16 pts

Up to 8 points for Top Job Centers (based on total jobs in the Census tract: 8 pts for ≥2,200 jobs, 6 for 1,800-2,199, 4 for 1,000-1,799, 2 for 500-999) plus up to 8 points for Net Job Growth in the tract over the past year (8 pts for ≥10%, 6 for 7-9.99%, 4 for 1-6.99%, 2 for 0.1-0.99%), per Appendix V qualifying Census tracts.

Serves Large Families or Seniors

5 pts

5 points for family projects with ≥10% of low-income units being 3-bedroom-or-larger or federal project-based-voucher units, OR for 100% senior projects with a supporting letter from the local Aging and Disability Resource Center. Market study and application must clearly designate the project as "Family" or "Senior."

Serves Lowest-Income Residents

10 pts

10 points for agreeing to a minimum set-aside of 40% of units at 60% CMI plus at least 1/4 of HTC units at an AMI tied to the county's income tier (30% AMI in High-Income counties, 40% in Moderate, 50% in Low), with resulting average-income designations at or below 52%/55%/57% respectively. Existing-housing applications must meet the percentages at unit turnover; units with committed project-based rental assistance count toward the lowest AMI tier served.

Section 811 PBRA

10 pts

10 points for developments submitting a qualifying application for Section 811 Project Rental Assistance voucher units per Appendix S; these units cannot be double-counted under another special designation.

Veterans Housing

3 pts

Up to 3 points (1 pt for 1-5% of units, 2 pts for 6-10%, 3 pts for 11-100%) for developments with a signed MOU with a County/Tribal Veterans Service Office or veteran-specific provider establishing referral/outreach, a 30-day unit hold-open period for veteran applicants, units at ≤60% CMI, and a property-manager affidavit of compliant marketing. Cannot overlap with Section 811 units.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

25 pts

Points awarded per the detailed criteria matrix in Appendix W (Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Guidelines) — not itemized within Appendix C itself.

Universal Design

13 pts

Points assigned via a checklist of accessibility features (Common Area Features, 100% Unit Features, Unit Features for ≥20% of units, and Acquisition/Rehab-only items) built to ICC/ANSI A117.1-2017 standards, converted to points via a sliding scale: 21+ checked items = 13 pts, 17-20 = 12, 13-16 = 10, 9-12 = 8, 5-8 = 4, 1-4 = 2.

Eventual Tenant Ownership

1 pts

1 point if 100% of the development (new-construction, single-family-detached, family units) is intended for eventual resident ownership, with a required Resident Homeownership Plan (tenant qualifications, counseling, timeline, affordable purchase price methodology, down-payment assistance plan, ≤5% year-one rent increases, ≤1/2-mile clustering, ≥5% local financial support, and $400/unit/year minimum replacement reserve).

Land Donation and Other Support

10 pts

10 points for new-construction projects meeting one of: donated land or a 99-year ground lease (≤$100/year total payments, clean Phase I); a building eligible for federal historic rehab tax credit with that equity included as a funding source; or a local-government TIF commitment ≥$200,000 or fee waiver ≥$50,000.

Building Amenities

2 pts

1 point for free in-unit internet to residents; 1 point for an on-site community room dedicated to residents.

Below-Market Financing

20 pts

Points ranked proportionally by amount of qualifying committed permanent loan(s) per unit from an approved list of public sources (e.g., Division of Energy Housing & Community Resources funds, NAHASDA, HOME, National Housing Trust Fund, CDBG, FHLB AHP, local government/PHA programs). Qualifying loans must be ≥$250,000, fixed rate ≤3%, amortization ≥20 years, no unreasonable fees. Highest per-unit amount among applicants earns the full 20 points; others are scaled down proportionally; applicants with no qualifying loan earn 0.

Development Team

6 pts

Up to 6 points based on the developer/team experience and performance criteria detailed in Appendix P (Development Team).

Site Characteristics

2 pts

2 points for sites free of negative features/design challenges/physical barriers (e.g., power transmission lines, underground obstacles, proximity to undesirable sights/smells, flood hazards, steep slopes, boulders, ravines, year-round streams, wetlands) that could impede construction or affect future tenants.

Scoring source

2027-28 Wisconsin QAP, Appendix C: "Selection Criteria" (Revised August 19, 2026), pp.1-23 — https://www.wheda.com/globalassets/documents/tax-credits/htc/2027/appendix/appendix-c-application-selection-criteria.pdf. Summary point table also appears in the main QAP body under "Scoring Categories," pp.6-7, at https://www.wheda.com/globalassets/documents/tax-credits/htc/2027/2027-2028-qap.pdf.

WHEN SCORES ARE CLOSE

Tie-breakers

Review the agency’s tie-breaker rules alongside the scoring criteria.

Preference for an award that would be the applicant/developer's only award
Preference for the county with fewest 9% HTC awards in the past 5 cycles
Tie broken by lottery

MODEL ASSUMPTIONS

Underwriting parameters

2027-28 Wisconsin QAP, Appendix D: "Housing Tax Credit Application Underwriting Criteria" (Revised August 7, 2026), pp.1-8 — https://www.wheda.com/globalassets/documents/tax-credits/htc/2027/appendix/appendix-d-housing-tax-credit-applicaion-underwriing-criteria.pdf. Supplemented by the main QAP's "Requirements for All Credit Types — Underwriting Criteria" section (p.4-5) and "Tax Exempt Bonds" section (p.15-17) at https://www.wheda.com/globalassets/documents/tax-credits/htc/2027/2027-2028-qap.pdf.

OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS

Utility allowance

Preferred method: No single default for ordinary Section 42 buildings — owners choose among 4 co-listed options (Local Utility Company Estimate, HUD Utility Schedule Model, Energy Consumption Model, or Local PHA schedule). The choice is mandatory (not optional) by property type: RHS utility allowances are required if RD-assisted; the applicable HUD utility allowance is required if combined with project-based Section 8; the local PHA schedule is required for any unit holding a HUD tenant-based voucher.

Wisconsin 2027-28 Qualified Allocation Plan, Appendix I: Utility Allowance Guidelines (Updated July 2026)

YOUR NEXT STEPS

Development guides for Wisconsin

PHASE 1Site sourcing and screening PHASE 2Site control and due diligence PHASE 3Entitlement pathway election PHASE 4Program election (9% vs. 4% vs. hybrid)PHASE 5Rents, income limits, and the operating pro forma PHASE 6Cost, construction type, and the labor package PHASE 7Capital stack and soft money PHASE 8Application assembly and submission PHASE 9Post-award readiness clock PHASE 10Construction, cost certification, and WHEDA's placed-in-service clock PHASE 11Compliance, the Year-15 opt-out, and WHEDA's flat 30-year tail

Use the LIHTC feasibility checklist →