Ending an 8-year tax credit drought on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming

2006 was the last time a tribally developed project in Wyoming received an award of Low Income Housing Tax Credits. This was before the first iPhone, when YouTube was less than a year old, the year Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown split, and when Barry Bonds hit his 715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth’s record.

This eight-year tax credit drought for tribal projects in Wyoming ended last month when the Eastern Shoshone Housing Authority (ESHA) received an award of $270,127 in LIHTCs from the Wyoming Community Development Authority (WCDA).

With the tax credit equity generated from these LIHTCs, the housing authority will revitalize Tigee Village, an existing subdivision in Fort Washakie originally constructed in the late 1960s. The 20 former housing units will be replaced with 20 new, energy efficient units and a community facility that will serve households at or below 40 percent of Area Median Income (AMI).

This is ESHA’s first award of LIHTCs, and the housing authority certainly has an appetite for more: “We are very excited to get this project going to not only provide housing but hope for the community,” remarked Brian Mann, ESHA’s assistant executive director, “This is just the phase one in ESHA’s plans for the future.”

We congratulate ESHA on this award and look forward to witnessing the revival of Tigee Village.