Sustainable Funding

The federal government offered an unprecedented $30+ billion worth of grants and loans through a wave of funding to create more sustainable infrastructure. Through dozens of programs administered by the EPA and the Departments of Energy and Transportation and others, there is now significant funding for public projects including schools – and charter schools are eligible. FRED has provided a series of FREDtalks to discuss the process for applying for these funds. The following resources are helpful.

  • FREDtalk #1, “Renew America’s Schools”
  • FREDtalk #2, “Clean School Bus Program”

New Market Tax Credits

Over 100 charter schools have had incredible success saving money through New Market Tax Credits while other schools have struggled to find a Community Development Entity (CDE) that has available tax credits. Through a partnership with Plante Moran, FRED is helping schools find the right CDE. If your school is planning a $7+ million project in a distressed area over the next couple of years then it’s time to let NMTC people know. We will compile projects for current NMTC allocatees who may have tax credits still available and also to CDEs who will be applying in the upcoming NMTC application round. FRED and Plante Moran is happy to make introductions and share information about these projects with the gatekeepers of NMTC allocation for free.

  • Determine if you are eligible. The school needs to demonstrate that the project could not go forward “but-for” additional subsidy from the NMTC. Also, the use of NMTCs must be tied to a “substantial improvement” of the property which is generally 25% above the cost basis of the property. As described above, the project must be in designated low-income communities with poverty rates of at least 20 percent or median incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median. To determine if a project site is NMTC eligible, check out this mapping tool.
  • A full list of projects funded by NMTC is hosted by the New Market Tax Credit Coalition here.
  • Fill out this form and return it to FRED (ma**@*********er.org). The best candidates are projects that are expected to have a significant positive impact on the low- income community, so please encourage your members to include details in the community impact section to help CDEs understand the project’s low- income community impacts. They can add rows to the spreadsheet to expand the text boxes if they need more room for the community impact summary and/or the project description.
  • For additional information on NMTCs, these videos provide a quick overview. Baker Tilly (4 minutes) and NMTC Coalition (3 minutes)

Find A Lender Through On-line Matching

Charter schools have limited time to find the right lender for their project. We’ve made it easier to match schools with the lending organization they need with the introduction of The Lending Project.com. Schools can quickly input some basic parameters about their project and prospective lenders will be identified. A real human will sort through the results before forwarding the matches to the school. All matches are thoroughly vetted to find the right financing partners. School leaders no longer have to cold call a dozen different lenders, or hang out at the bars at trade conferences. Someday they should make a dating program this easy.