Suffolk offering bigger tax breaks for affordable housing developers
Developers in Suffolk County now have bigger financial incentives to create affordable rental housing as well as designate units for veterans and those with physical and intellectual disabilities.
The Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency’s board of directors voted unanimously Thursday to implement a policy offering “enhanced” benefits to developers in exchange for creating additional units.
The policy notes it has been the agency’s long-standing practice to award benefits to projects that set aside 10% of units at reduced rates for people earning less than 80% of area median income. That equals $102,000 annually for a family of four on Long Island in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Enhanced financial assistance will be available to projects that set aside more than 10% of units as affordable, those that have even lower income eligibility requirements and those that reserve units for veterans and disabled people.