SHERIDAN — Only three states do not have a statewide fund to support housing development, and Wyoming is one of them.

After months of work, a flexible housing development fund — seeded with state dollars — has floated to the top of the Wyoming Community Development Authority’s list for addressing a lack of workforce housing across the state. 

With something like a flexible housing development fund in place, communities across the state could receive grants, low-cost loans, credit guarantees and other forms of financial assistance to support the creation or preservation of housing, according to a Statewide Strategic Housing Action Plan commissioned by the WCDA.

Neighboring states have already earmarked funding to address the nationwide housing shortage, according to Kimberly Burnett of Abt Associates, the firm that authored the WCDA plan. 

In 2022, the Idaho Legislature created its Workforce Housing Fund to support the development of both single-family and multi-family workforce housing using federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.

“Funds like this are initially seeded with state general obligation funding, and we realize this is a heavy lift,” Burnett said.

The Statewide Strategic Housing Action Plan, released last year, includes 27 strategies organized into four categories for addressing Wyoming’s housing needs.

“We think it is important to call out (the flexible housing development fund) because of the role that it could potentially play in unlocking other resources for housing,” Burnett said.

The WCDA commissioned its Strategic Housing Action Plan after completing a statewide housing needs assessment, which showed the need for between 20,700 and 38,600 additional housing units across the state before 2030 to keep up with estimated growth.

Having a strategic plan is only the first step, WCDA Executive Director Scott Hoversland said.

“Please realize this is the beginning of the work, and we still have a lot of work ahead of us. This is the grunt work for the future,” he said.

Even if the Legislature chooses not to create a flexible housing development fund this session, the plan includes other suggestions localities can use right away, Hoversland said.

Other solutions and tools

Strategies in the plan are grouped into four categories, the first of which includes expanding resources available for housing and infrastructure development. That includes creation of the flexible housing development fund, but also suggestions like creation of a real estate transfer tax or fee on home sales of $1 million or more and expansion of communities’ ability to use tax increment financing to spur housing development.

Another idea would be to expand allowable uses for the special purpose excise tax commonly known as the “sixth penny” in many Wyoming communities to include housing developments.

“This is a really valuable tool for localities to be able to raise revenue,” Stephen Whitlow, a consultant with Abt Global, said, adding that often sixth penny revenue is used for things like new fire stations.

“While the excise tax is a really valuable source of revenue, we are basically recommending that it be made more flexible so that localities can more easily and more quickly use it for housing,” Whitlow said.

A second group of suggestions includes expanding and preserving homebuyers’, homeowners’ and renters’ access to safe, quality and affordable housing. This is key, Burnett said, because for many in Wyoming, home ownership simply feels out of reach.

“We heard from a lot of stakeholders that they are worried that home ownership is not a realistic option for a lot of families,”
she said.

Suggestions include improved financing for manufactured homes, expanded funding for rental housing rehabilitation and establishment of a housing land trust or using shared equity models to expand opportunities for ownership.

A third group of suggestions would reduce regulatory and land-access barriers to new housing development.

“Wyoming has a lot of rules and regulations in place that are favoring single family home development only,” Whitlow said. “What you are missing out on are smaller units, homes that may be single family, but they would be on smaller lots. These are things that are, right now, prevented, or only allowed on small portions of land.”

Also in this category is reforming Wyoming’s zoning protest petition process, which currently allows neighbors to stop local housing developments based on proximity.

Finally, a fourth category of strategies is aimed at strengthening capacity among public and private actors, from local governments to state officials.

The full plan is 111 pages, but those interested in a shorter version can access a StoryMap online that provides a high-level overview of the proposed solutions. 

In addition, the WCDA has a Local Housing Policy Lookup Tool online created in conjunction with the plan, where users can select their community and see suggested housing policies for that area, based on local data and total population.

The next step will be implementation, but no one organization or agency can be responsible for wholesale change, Burnett said.

“There is a lot here,” Burnett said. “We think that almost all the strategies will require partnership.”