Starting tomorrow, the City of Jefferson will be represented at a major statewide event.

Jefferson was selected as one of 11 initial Iowa Thriving Communities through a new program with Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority. While the designation has no funding with it, the recipients will get “bonus” points toward workforce housing tax credits to entice developers to build housing. Greene County Development Corporation Executive Director Ken Paxton talks about the importance of these tax credits.

“There’s no more important item in rural housing than workforce housing tax credits. And for those of you who don’t know about that, that’s a financial support to a developer who wants to come into a community and build a housing project. Without those workforce housing tax credits, because of the cost of supplies, and interest rates, and that kind of thing, housing projects are really prohibitive and particularly prohibitive in rural counties because it costs more to move out there to make them.” 

Representatives with the City of Jefferson and GCDC will attend the IEDA and IFA Housing Iowa Conference this week in Cedar Rapids. Jefferson City Administrator Scott Peterson is looking forward to the event to present housing successes and attract developers on a grander scale.

“This conference actually a very large deal, it may be 1,000 people at the conference. Of those 1,000 people, many of them will be in housing development. We want to jump on this opportunity and put our best foot forward as we possibly can to have really good interaction with housing developers.”    

Peterson adds they will also have an exhibitors booth at the conference as another extension to talk with housing developers and he is thrilled with the Iowa Thriving Communities designation.