WCDA launches statewide housing strategic plan after needs assessment shows major shortfall

Scott Overland, executive director of the Wyoming Community Development Authority, told the committee WCDA completed a statewide housing needs assessment that shows an immediate shortfall (the assessment estimates roughly 50,000 units currently needed with an additional 20,000–38,000 needed by 2030). Overland said WCDA issued a request for proposals for a statewide housing strategic action plan to identify practical, Wyoming-specific solutions and expects to have proposals returned immediately and a report process that will inform committee meetings later in the year.

Overland and several testifiers urged combining demand-side measures (property-tax relief, sales tax adjustments for building materials) with supply-side incentives (land banks, TIF, below-market financing and land leases). Teton County and Jackson officials described public-private partnerships, reduced parking requirements, density bonuses and land-lease approaches that produced large multipliers on public investment.

Committee leaders asked stakeholder groups to coordinate and to submit legislative ideas before the committee’s August meeting so staff can incorporate them into potential committee bills.