Apr 5, 2018 2 min read

Expand the Neighborhood Assistance Program

Communities in need across our region and state are benefiting from a state tax credit program called the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP). The NAP works by creating partnerships between the business community, government and grassroots community development organizations to help focus investment in underserved communities throughout Pennsylvania, including many here in our corner of the state.

We’ve seen the power of the NAP tax credit program firsthand in Washington. The NAP tax credit program is in the second year of helping to promote the business climate and quality of life initiatives in the city. The NAP tax credit program is a proven tool to help communities grow jobs, build capacity, improve business districts and housing and address blight. Without this important source of funding and the partnerships created through the NAP program, Pennsylvania’s struggling communities would have a much harder time rebuilding their economies and improving their quality of life.

The success of the NAP program is illustrated by the growing number of communities seeking to make use of it. With additional public-private investment, these communities can become even greater assets and can offer a new level of opportunity to current residents and newcomers.

What’s preventing more communities from having greater access to this critical community development funding tool? A cap on the NAP tax credit program.

Since its creation 44 years ago, the $18 million allocated to the NAP annually has never been increased. This tax credit yields $50 million in requests (and matching corporate commitments of funding), yet more than half were rejected as a result of the program’s funding cap.

The NAP program needs to be expanded. Legislation in the state Senate and House would do just that. SB 512 and HB 645 double the cap on the NAP tax credits from $18 million to $36 million per year.

This proposed increase in NAP tax credits will have an enormous impact on the people who live and work in Pennsylvania’s most struggling communities. It’s time for lawmakers in Harrisburg to raise the cap on the program and support critical efforts to strengthen communities throughout the state.

Christy Bean Rowing

Executive director, City of Washington Citywide Development Corp.