The Fernley City Council approved the transfer of $1,637,475 in federal bond cap funds to the Nevada Rural Housing Authority (NRHA) during its July 16 meeting, for the purpose of making affordable housing more available to low- and moderate-income Fernley residents.
The transfer of the bond cap is not money, but a federal allocation to issue tax-exempt bonds to fund qualified housing initiatives like the home ownership program, said Katie Coleman, NHRA’s director of communications.
“It doesn’t affect your local budget,” Coleman said said.
Since June 2024, the rural home ownership program has assisted 21 homebuyers in Fernley with $6.8 million in mortgages, Coleman said.
In materials provided to the council by the NHRA, it was noted that since 2006, when the city began allocating its private activity bond cap to the organization, there have been $15.2 million in bond cap transfers to the NHRA from the city. This has resulted in $189 million in low-cost mortgages to 846 Fernley homebuyers, $5 million in down payment assistance and $3.4 million in estimated federal tax savings to local homeowners.
Statewide, the NHRA’s new Launchpad program, initiated last summer, has provided homeowners with below-market interest rates of 6.17 percent, with 51 lender partners participating in the program, providing $25 million in mortgages to 79 families having an average household income of $77,218, according to the documentation.
The NRHA also provides rental assistance to 1,300 renters statewide every year, Coleman said.
NRHA’s programs are available throughout Nevada in all communities with a population of less than 150,000 residents.
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