
CONCORD, NH – From large renovations of former mills to small north-country one-building redevelopment projects, the state’s economy relies on the Community Development Finance Authority tax credit program, and needs more of it, proponents of raising the program’s cap said last week.
Nonprofit organizations, business owners and developers told the state Senate Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 29 that they strongly support a bill that would increase the cap CDFA tax credit program cap from the $5 million it’s been since 1998 to $10 million.
The committee agreed, voting 5-0 Thursday that the measure ought to pass. It is on the calendar for the Senate’s Wednesday, Feb. 13, session, which begins at 10 a.m.
“We can’t create housing now that people can afford,” Eric Chinburg, of Chinburg Properties, told the Ways and Means committee Wednesday. The increase in costs for his company to renovate historic mills and other buildings has outpaced what the state’s residents can afford for housing.
“We need a lot of sources to make projects work and this would be one that would be very helpful,” he said.
Harrison Kanzler, executive director of AHEAD, which develops affordable housing in the North Country, said many programs his organization has access to require larger-scale projects than what’s realistic in northern New Hampshire.
“There are so many places in our downtown areas that need to be revitalized, need to be refreshed, could be nice walkable downtowns if we had programs to support them, and this program does that,” he said.
Senate Bill 158, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Innis, R-District 7, calls for doubling the cap on what can be contributed for competitive development grants awarded by the program. Business donors buy credits for approved projects in exchange for a 75% credit, per credit bought, on state business profits, business enterprise or insurance taxes.
Because of the tax break that donor businesses get, the increase could result in in a tax revenue reduction up to $3,750,000 in fiscal year 2026, the bill’s methodology note says. But the tax credit program also leverages capital.
“The increase in contributions will leverage additional federal funds, result in economic activity that will generate revenue and result in new jobs,” the bill’s note says. “The [CDFA] states it is difficult to capture the full impact of the added federal dollars and increased economic activity related to the increase in the contribution amount, but it would benefit state, county, and local revenues.”
The CDFA has invested nearly $250 million across the state, Executive Director Katie Easterly Martey said at the hearing. In 2024, CDFA, through all its programs, invested $25 million, funding 117 projects. She said for every $5 million the state invests in CFDA programs, $11 million in economic activity is created. In addition to the tax credit program, the authority has several others, supported by federal Community Development Block Grants, the Small Business Association, American Rescue Plan money and other sources.
“Lack of housing remains the greatest economic challenge facing New Hampshire,” Innis, the bill’s sponsor, said in a written statement Wednesday. “It’s not only a burden for New Hampshire families, but a barrier to attracting new employees to the Granite State, and an economy that isn’t growing is an economy that’s dying.” Innis wasn’t at the hearing; his testimony was read by Senate Deputy Chief of Staff Grant Bosse.
Innis said that the CDFA is an existing tool that’s already working, and can be used to further address the housing. Increasing the cap would double the amount the CDFA could use for housing redevelopment investments.
Martey told the committee that CDFA has experienced a “significant and steady rise” in demand for the tax credit program that “well exceeds the cap of $5 million.”
Support of businesses fuels the program, which incentives and rewards public-private partnership. A business’s donations “stays right in their community,” Martey added.
The program, which has a “proven track record of being able to advance important housing projects,” and it “allows businesses to be part of the solution for solving our housing crisis.”
Nine people testified in favor of the cap increase, and no one was present to testify against it Wednesday. Committee Chair Timothy Lang, R-District 2, said that the committee had received 46 signings in support of the bill, and three against.
The focus Wednesday was on the impact the increase would have on easing the housing crisis and increasing the workforce, though the bill’s grants fund a variety of development programs that support child care, transitional housing, conservation, wellness, and more.
Many of those speaking Wednesday said increasing the program’s is a win-win for developers and the state. Some also said the hike is necessary in order to get projects completed.
Chinburg said his company has New Hampshire projects it can’t move forward on because of the increase in the cost of development.
“We started renovating mills 30 years ago, and at that time, markets worked,” he said. But as the years went on, construction and regulatory costs have far outpaced wages of state residents, putting the cost of housing out of reach.
Chinburg said the company’s projects in neighboring Maine are going forward, because that state “has a program like this that tips projects into the feasible column.”
But in New Hampshire, “I’ve got…projects in New Hampshire we just can’t do,” despite the fact they’ve been approved and designed.
“Sanborn Seminary in Kingston, we need another boost in the capital stack to renovate that beautiful school,” he said. “The Homestead Mill in Swanzey, can’t make the numbers work. And I’ve got another project in Charlestown, and in Somersworth, where we’ve got buildings sitting just waiting for the climate of interest rates, construction costs, inflation, or other sources of capital to improve.”
He said that the CDFA tac credit program is one of many sources that combine to make projects like his financially feasible.
Kanzler, of AHEAD, said that his organization, too, relies on the program as a source of funding, as well as providing a way for local businesses to take part in the economic development of their community.
“There are so many places in our downtown areas that need to be revitalized, need to be refreshed, could be nice walkable downtowns if we had programs to support them, and this program does that,” he said. “We use it regularly.”
He added, “A lot of small-scale employers are constantly asking us how they can help. This is a way we can put a vetted development in front of them and allow them to be involved in the process of getting it funded.”
The proposal to increase the cap “seems to be the most efficient and impactful way to bring more rehabilitation investment to New Hampshire,” Jennifer Goodman, executive director of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, said.
“CDFA has a proven track record for successful projects, of smart investments that leverage substantial additional resources, of demand for good projects outstripping demand for available credits, and of small and large businesses participating in the program.”
She said the tax credits are needed transform vacant or underused old mill buildings, old schools, Main Street buildings “into the housing that we desperately need.”
Historic preservation investment has “great catalytic impacts for the state,” including supporting high-wage jobs, conserving energy resources and keeping money circulating in communities,” she added.
Nick Taylor, director Housing Action NH, testified that the program has “strong housing implications,” which is important with record high rental rates in the state and a vacancy rate around 1%.
“In a tough budget year I think it’s important to put the dollars where they’re most impactful,” Taylor said.
Converting historic structures isn’t housing is difficult, but the program will bring attention and resources to those efforts, Taylor said. “It’s a win-win for our communities to increase supply and keep iconic structures.”
Workforce support and creation will also be a benefit of more money injected into development, some of those speaking said.
Aaron Sturgis, of Preservation Timber Framing, in Nottingham, said more young people are being drawn to the trades.
“These are jobs that people are seeking, young people,” he said. “I see this bill as a tool in the toolbox for keeping people in the state, doing really good work.”
He added, “Every single town I walk through has one building that could’ve been rehabbed, and I think this tax incentive is a way for that to continue to occur.”
The Aviation Museum of N.H. was a beneficiary of a tax credit grant last year. It’s using the money to expand its student plane-building program that began in Manchester to Lebanon and Farmington. Jeff Rapsis, executive director of the museum, said the schools program benefits the state.
“What we specifically do is try to get young people interested in careers in aviation and aerospace,” he said. While that industry is a “significant part of the New Hampshire economy,” it needs a skilled workforce.
Without the CDFA tax credits grant, “we could not finance the program.”
He said contributors to the museum’s tax credit grant include developers Dick Anagnost and Arthur Sullivan, who are focused on investing in their community.
A business owner who invests in the CDFA program also spoke in favor of the increase, saying it has a big impact on the community.
Daniel Enxing, owner of Volvo Cars of Exeter, has been involved with the tax credit program for 13 years.
He said his first experience with it was as a board member of the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, which needed to move from a duplex, where they were feeding hundreds of people, into larger space.
“The only way we were able to make it work was through a CDFA grant,” he said. “We were able to buy a bigger building…and rehab it.”
Since then, he’s contributed close to a million dollars buying tax credits for development programs.
“A lot of what I look at is housing focused, and I’m able to go on and look at the website, see the different programs that are out there, call the organizations that are doing them, and see who I can help out the most in my community,” Exning said.
“The more housing in New Hampshire we can create, the better for everybody,” he said. “That’s more housing and more jobs.”
Martey, of the CDFA, told the committee that donations from businesses range from $200 to $125,000, and donors include a variety of businesses, including small businesses, manufacturers, insurance companies, automobile dealers and more.
The Ways and Means Committee would next deliberate on the bill, and if it’s in favor, would pass it on to the full Senate.