by Scott Nishimura, Fort Worth Report
May 16, 2026
The Fort Worth Housing Finance Corp. continues to look for new ways to generate revenue.
Kacey Thomas, Fort Worth’s neighborhood services director, addressed concerns about the entity’s balance sheet at its April 28 meeting.
“While we’ve been able to invest in a number of housing developments over the past few years, part of the conundrum with that is that our fund balance has dipped down,” Thomas said, referring to the difference between revenue and expenditures.
The Housing Finance Corp. — created in 1979 to help the city acquire land and develop, finance and build safe affordable housing — conducted a benchmark study comparing it to other Texas cities and identified potential sources of additional revenue.
The city of Arlington was the smallest peer considered. The cities of Houston and Dallas are the only two cities that don’t have city staff involved in management of their corporations.
The study found that Houston’s housing finance corporation had the largest revenue stream, with $6.2 million. Dallas followed at $4.2 million and Austin at $3.8 million. The city of Fort Worth had $2.3 million in revenue.
Houston and Dallas both issue bonds to generate revenue. While Fort Worth does not issue bonds, it shares other characteristics with the two cities, including making money from interest on loans and investments.
“And then for the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corp., our biggest drive really has been project cash flow,” Thomas said.
The Housing Finance Corp. participated in several partnerships that have forgivable loans or loans that don’t carry interest. Such arrangements helped make projects viable, but they mean no revenue comes back.
The corporation recently shifted practices, Thomas said.
“We have had a few loans that we are charging interest and they are not forgivable,” Thomas said. “This does represent a consistent cash flow back to the HFC.” An example she provided was a $1.75 million loan at 4% would equate to roughly $70,000 per year in revenue.
For the Housing Finance Corp., another potential revenue stream is selling lots it owns. The organization owns 140 lots, with seven obligated for sale to a community land trust.
Between those obligated lots and potential sale of another lot to a healthcare provider, the Housing Finance Corp. will receive nearly $1 million in revenue, Thomas said. They would use this revenue to reinvest in other lots that it could sell later.
Other potential revenue streams would be via partnerships, fees and assignment of tax rebates instead of property owners. The intention this summer is to iron out details on lending money for development and partnerships, Thomas said.
Patrick Banis is a member of the Fort Worth Report’s Documenterscrew. If you believe anything in this account is inaccurate, please email us at news@fortworthreport.orgwith “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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