NCIF NMTC Strategy
Using New Markets Tax Credits (“NMTC”) to Catalyze Community and Economic Development
Background: The National Community Investment Fund (“NCIF”) created its 3-Way Strategy to generate long term, sustainable change in low-and moderate-income markets nationally. In this strategy, NCIF partners with the NCIF Network – our national network of CDFI and Minority Banks, Minority CDEs, other CDFIs, and major Investors. Together, we foster job creation, increase access to financial products and services, and enable an environment that creates greater opportunity for the underserved.
To date, NCIF received a total of $326 million of NMTC allocations. Using our 3-Way Strategy, NCIF catalyzed over $800 million worth of transactions supporting various community and economic development projects that have created 9,600 jobs. Many of the transactions are located in some of the most distressed neighborhoods of the country (poverty rates ranging from 7% to 70%, and median unemployment of 14.5% at the time of investment). NCIF is embarking on an ambitious three-part strategy to deploy the allocations over the next two years as follows:
- National Deployment with NCIF Network Partners: NCIF will deploy its NMTC allocations to fund the highest impact projects nationwide with total project costs of approximately $400 million over the next two years;
- Local oneCity Strategy: NCIF will focus a part of its available NMTC allocation to focus on one or more cities with the goal of reducing the persistence of a Tale of Two Cities[1]. Initial focus will be on the City of Chicago.
- Expanding Black Business Credit Initiative (EBBC): As a member of the EBBC, NCIF prioritizes projects that finance the growth of Black owned and/or governed businesses and non-profits that provide essential goods, services, and jobs in predominantly Black communities.
We are inviting NCIF Network partners to take advantage of available allocations to support their customers and to increase fee revenues. Other financial institutions that want to partner with NCIF Network may also apply. Key requirements for projects to be eligible in this program are:
Projects must be located in eligible (preference for “severely distressed”) census tracts;
- Project sponsors must be current or future customers of NCIF Network partners;
- Total project cost must be between 3-4 times the requested NCIF NMTC allocation;
- Capital stack must contemplate market rate debt; NCIF and its Network partners must participate in a portion of this debt;
- Projects must create measurable social (and environmental) impact in low- and moderate- income communities and must commit to reporting data to support this impact; and,
- Must be willing to be recognized as NCIF Partners in internal and external communications.
Potential Roles of and Expectations from the Network Partner
NCIF Network Partners participate in NCIF NMTC transactions in the following primary ways:
- As a tax credit equity investor, leveraged lender, direct lender to the sponsor, or as a co-allocatee to the project.
- Commits to partnership with NCIF throughout the 7-year compliance period:
- Helps in underwriting and serving the QALICB
- Helps in analyzing the impact of the QALICB
- Has a strong working relationship with the sponsor/QALICB
- Commits to being recognized as an active member of The NCIF Network.
For more information please contact NMTC@ncif.org
[1] While gains have been made due to community development investments, many cities in the country continue to have significant disparities of income and wealth within the city boundaries – we call it the (unfortunate) Tale of Two Cities. We would like to invest our NMTC allocations in a focused manner to contribute to the reduction in persistence of these trends.