Tax Reform Act of 1986
Congress created the private activity bond program and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit in a single bill. States receive an annual per-capita allocation of tax-exempt bond authority, which they distribute to cities, counties, and housing agencies for qualifying projects.
Tax-exempt bonds and housing tax credits became the primary federal tools for financing below-market rental housing.
Nearly four decades later, these programs still account for the majority of affordable housing produced in the United States.
The volume cap Las Vegas is allocating traces directly to this 1986 framework — the same federal authority, distributed through the state, used for decades to finance below-market housing.
