School District Funding Models

₹77,080 Crores allocated by the Government of India for startups and manufacturing in 2025. Yet most founders are still chasing VC money. I work with startups daily, and it surprises me how many don't even know these schemes exist. Here's what's available right now The Big Picture: → Deep Tech & Startup Fund: ₹30,000 Cr → MSME Budget Outlay: ₹23,168 Cr → Startup India Fund of Funds: ₹10,000 Cr → PLI Electronics & IT: ₹9,000 Cr → PLI Auto Components: ₹2,819 Cr → PLI Textiles: ₹1,148 Cr → Startup India Seed Fund: ₹945 Cr This is just the major allocations - there's more buried in smaller schemes. Let me break down what you can actually access based on your stage [1] For Early Stage Startups: 👉🏼 Startup India Seed Fund: Up to ₹50L per startup 👉🏼 SAMRIDH Scheme: Up to ₹40L grants 👉🏼 Atal Innovation Mission: Up to ₹15L for prototypes Most founders think these are too small. But remember, this is non-dilutive capital that can get you to revenue stage. [2] For Revenue Stage Companies: 👉🏼 CGTMSE: Up to ₹2 Cr collateral-free loans 👉🏼 Stand-Up India: ₹10L to ₹1 Cr for SC/ST/Women entrepreneurs 👉🏼 Multiplier Grants: Up to ₹10 Cr for R&D projects This is where it gets interesting. Revenue-stage companies have the best shot at accessing larger amounts. [3] For Manufacturing: 👉🏼 PLI schemes across 14+ sectors 👉🏼 Significant incentives for domestic production 👉🏼 Focus on electronics, auto, textiles If you're in manufacturing, you're literally sitting on a goldmine of incentives. The challenge? Most founders don't know how to navigate the application process. Here's where to start: - Startup India Portal [https://lnkd.in/gBdAH52D] - myScheme Portal [myscheme.gov.in] - SIDBI Portal [sidbi.in] - AIM Portal [aim.gov.in] - MeitY Startup Hub [msh.meity.gov.in] What you actually need: ✓ DPIIT registration for startups ✓ Proper documentation ✓ Clear business plan ✓ Compliance records ✓ Incubator partnerships (for some schemes) I've seen founders spend months preparing pitch decks for VCs, but won't spend a week getting their documentation ready for government schemes. The reality is Government funding is often cheaper, comes with less dilution, and has better terms than VC money. But it requires patience and proper documentation. #startupfunding #manufacturing #debtfunding

Property taxes quietly shape real estate returns more than most investors realize. A new 2024 map of median property taxes across the U.S. highlights a massive spread: from ~$900 in West Virginia and Alabama to over $9,000 in New Jersey. That’s a 10x difference in annual holding cost for similar assets. A few observations worth thinking about: ✅The Northeast dominates the high end → strong public services, but heavier carry costs ✅Lower-tax states in the South/Midwest → often more cash flow-friendly ✅High-price states (like CA, WA) still generate large tax bills even with moderate rates ✅Property taxes aren’t static; they directly impact long-term yield and exit assumptions For investors, this isn’t just a line item; it’s a strategy. In markets with high property taxes: → Rent growth needs to keep pace → Expense ratios are structurally higher → Underwriting mistakes get amplified over time In lower-tax markets: → Cash flow looks better on paper → But often comes with different demand drivers and risks At the end of the day, property taxes are one of the most predictable, but often overlooked, forces in real estate performance. If you’re underwriting deals across multiple states, this is one variable you can’t afford to ignore. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates, Niccolo Conte, Christina Kostandi), Visual Capitalist #RealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #Multifamily #PropTech #CRE #Investing #HousingMarket #DataDriven #MarketResearch

Section 504 - Reforming #Disaster #Recovery #Act This is the portion of the new housing mega-bill that Congress looks set to pass this summer that reforms and formalizes #CDBG-DR. Here is what else it does. 1) Creates a Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund (but does not fund it directly...it creates mechanisms to transfer funds to it and of course the Appropriators could add money to it) 2) Creates a new Office of Disaster Management and #Resiliency within HUD that is responsible for delivering the program and the other tasks included herein. 3) Authorizes CDBG-DR for 3 years. This means, as long as there is money, the Secretary can make recovery grants from the above fund for eligible purposes. 4) Directs collaboration with #FEMA and the #SBA to align disaster-related regulations, INCLUDING adoption of Consensus Codes and Standards and insurance purchase requirements. 5) Promotes best practices in mitigation and resilient land use planning. 6) Is designed to support state, tribal, and local recipients in developing, coordinating, and maintaining pre-disaster recovery and resiliency capacity. 7) Maintains the focus on lower-income/disadvantaged community recovery (70% of funds must benefit these people). 8) Funding from the Disaster Recovery Fund can be used for readiness and staffing as well as for providing grants. 9) Funds will be distributed via formula (from the DR fund). The formula should consider the definition of "catastrophic" disasters, have a method for identifying and benefitting the most impacted and distressed areas, allocate funding based on unmet needs across housing, economy, and infrastructure, define concentration of damages, and provide a mitigation allocation. #HUD will have to develop a formula and put it out for public comment and refinement. 10) Sets aside an 18 percent allocation for #mitigation!!! That's higher than FEMA's 15% for HMGP. 11) For disaster declarations: FEMA/the President still have to declare the disaster. 12) Disaster allocations can be plussed up to the formula maximum if there isn't sufficient funding the disaster recovery fund. 13) The Secretary CAN allocate preliminary grants for certain uses without waiting for a disaster declaration determination if the disaster is catastrophic, but only up to $5M, so not much in many cases (but maybe a path for small, devastating disasters, like tornados?) 14) Grantees have 90 days to submit their intended use/admin plan for funding from the DR fund. One element includes showing how the grant is funding mitigation in a way consistent with FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans (a boost for HM planning, which has suffered of late). 15) The law requires proportional allocation based on unmet needs for renters and owners. 16) Environmental permitting relief/alignment is tentatively provided. 17) 6 year periods of performance for funding The "sense of Congress" is that they may develop a successor program for when this one sunsets. Anything I missed?

"If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything." —Ronald Coase Since October, Measure ULA advocates have been sharing data showing a 60% increase in permitted units in Q3 2025 compared to Q3 2024 (1st image). It's intended as evidence that the tax's impact on production, documented in our Taxing Tomorrow report, is transitory. Their use of the data is misleading. Why? Because up to that date, Q3 2024 was the worst quarter for housing construction permits since before 2020. My chart (2nd image) illustrates this: the area circled in red is their baseline. If you arbitrarily choose the worst quarter of production in 4+ years (probably 8+ years) as your baseline, you're likely to show improvement in later quarters. That does nothing to exculpate Measure ULA for its negative impact on multifamily production. That's point number one. The group also says permits rose quarter-over-quarter through 2025. Again, true but misleading. The 3rd chart shows quarterly permitting through Q3 2025, with Q1 2025 circled. This is their baseline for this claim — the worst quarter in 5 years. That's point two. The folks sharing this rosy interpretation want us to believe that the market is recovering, but there's just not much data to support that conclusion yet. If we look at annual figures (4th image), which smooth out some of the quarterly variability, 2025 looks about as bad as 2024, which itself was historically bad. Sales also haven't shown much sign of recovering. Mike Manville and Mott Smith evaluated ULA's impact on sales over $5 million and on property tax revenue. Their study period ended with Q4 2024, but newer data shows the gap between LA and the rest of the county has actually widened since then (5th image). In my report with Jason Ward, we looked at transactions of properties with high-density zoning and low-intensity uses as a leading indicator of redevelopment, also finding a 50% drop in LA sales relative to other LA County jurisdictions. As above, that trend has persisted over the past 6 months (6th image). Maybe things will get better in the future. Maybe other data tells a more positive story without misleading its audience. But the data presented by ULA advocates shouldn't persuade anyone that the market's already recovering.

One thing that doesn’t get enough attention in the Texas housing affordability debate: property taxes. The legislature has made progress, capping annual appraisal growth and expanding the homestead exemption, but the system still largely favors those who understand how to work it. And make no mistake, it is a system with rules. Those rules are just not applied evenly. Those who know when to use the income, equity, or comparison approach, how ag exemptions and rollback taxes work, and how to negotiate with appraisal districts, they have an advantage. If you have leverage or scale you have an advantage. That knowledge gap matters. Texas homeowners pay some of the highest effective property tax rates in the nation, around 1.6% of home value on average, and property taxes account for nearly half of all local government revenue. It is a huge part of the cost of homeownership in the state of Texas. Yet, the average homeowner has zero leverage. Large landowners benefit through ag exemptions. Commercial owners use valuation discounts. Estate properties often win through equitable arguments. Meanwhile, the ordinary homeowner’s value closely follows the market, year after year, with few tools to push back. Having spent hours in appraisal district offices and ARB hearings, I’ve seen how subjective the process can be, and how often well-meaning homeowners are told not to worry because their value is “capped this year,” without realizing that today’s inflated value becomes tomorrow’s baseline. This drives up all values. Knowledge shouldn’t be the barrier to fairness. If we’re serious about housing affordability in Texas, we have to talk about property taxes, not just rates, but rules.

New Paper! Low property taxes concentrate ownership among the elderly, while higher property taxes enable more young families to own homes. With Josh Coven, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, and Sebastian Golder. Background: the bulk of the housing stock is owned by 50-70 year old empty nesters aging in place with spare bedrooms, while young families with children face crowded housing despite a higher need for space. See also Redfin research: https://lnkd.in/eYR5n8fu The key insight from the paper: Property taxes act like a "forced mortgage" — upfront price is lower, capitalizing the taxes, alongside higher ongoing payments. Just like a mortgage would do. This tradeoff helps financially constrained young families overcome down payment barriers. Consistent with this logic — areas with higher property taxes have more young homeowners, fewer empty bedrooms, and more children as % of population. House prices and price-to-rent ratios are lower. We compare TX (high property tax) vs CA (low tax due to Prop 13) housing markets. Home ownership rates among the young are extremely low in California — how much of that is driven by low taxes and high prices? We build a structural lifecycle model which matches a key aspect of the data—homeownership gradients in CA are very steep, ie young people don't own while old people do. By contrast, in TX, in both data and model we see more young homeownership—but less elderly homeownership. Raising CA taxes to TX levels would increase overall homeownership by 4.6% and young household ownership by 7.4%. Higher property taxes in CA lead to 18% lower house prices. This enables more young, financially constrained families to buy homes despite higher ongoing tax costs. Our results highlight how asset taxes like property taxes can significantly impact prices and allocations, especially with financial constraints. Higher taxes can actually make homeownership more accessible to young families, while low taxes can lock such families out. Paper: https://lnkd.in/eM796tcx Substack: https://lnkd.in/edwCqNGz 

For the past decade, housing policy has been dominated by the search for “transformational” solutions to the affordability crisis. Some have helped. But too many have made headlines, absorbed public dollars, and failed to deliver at scale. Bob Simpson’s latest piece is a useful reminder of something housing practitioners understand well: affordability is built on math, not magic. Property tax abatements are among the least glamorous tools in local government, and also among the most effective. When rents are restricted, development costs have to come down or the deals don’t work. Property taxes are often one of the largest fixed operating expenses in multifamily housing. Reduce that burden, and suddenly projects pencil that otherwise wouldn’t. Homes get built. Affordability endures. What makes this article especially compelling is how clearly it connects abatements to outcomes policymakers actually care about: lower rents, reduced reliance on direct subsidy, increased investment, and economic benefits. This isn’t theoretical. Cities like San Antonio, Buffalo, and Dallas are already proving it works at scale. There’s no silver bullet for housing, but there are proven levers. We should spend less time innovating for innovation’s sake, and more time scaling the tools we already have. Worth the read. https://lnkd.in/eM7aUiGp

2026 is shaping up to be a turning point for property taxes in the U.S. Several states are no longer talking about reform. They’re talking about elimination. From North Dakota’s oil-backed plan to Florida and Georgia pushing ballot initiatives without clear replacement funding, to Texas targeting school property taxes and Indiana proposing full repeal, the message is the same: homeowners want relief. The problem is what comes next. Property taxes may be unpopular, but they are one of the most stable sources of funding for schools and local government. Replacing them means higher sales taxes, broader taxes on services, new fees, or cuts to public services. In many cases, it also means a shift toward more regressive taxation that hits renters and working families harder. “Zero property taxes” is an easy slogan. Designing a system that replaces tens of billions in reliable revenue without hollowing out education, public safety, and infrastructure is the hard part. Voters aren’t just deciding whether they want lower tax bills. They’re deciding how their communities get funded going forward. #PropertyTax #TaxPolicy #PublicFinance #StateBudgets #EducationFunding #LocalGovernment #FiscalSustainability

Property taxes are becoming a growing pressure point for homeowners — and housing counselors are on the front lines of helping families navigate it. The MortgagePoint article highlights a trend many of us are already seeing in counseling sessions: 📈 Rising single‑family property tax bills are straining household budgets, especially for first‑time buyers, seniors on fixed incomes, and families already juggling higher insurance premiums, utilities, and consumer debt. For many homeowners, the mortgage payment isn’t the issue — it’s everything around it. And when taxes rise faster than income, even stable households can find themselves in a precarious position. This is exactly where HUD‑approved housing counseling makes a difference. Counselors are helping consumers: • Understand how property tax increases affect escrow and monthly payments • Prepare for adjustments before they hit the budget • Build savings buffers to absorb rising housing‑related costs • Navigate appeals processes or local tax‑relief programs • Evaluate whether refinancing, loss‑mitigation options, or budgeting changes can restore stability • Identify early warning signs before delinquency occurs The article underscores a reality our field knows well: Housing affordability isn’t just about the mortgage - it’s about the total cost of staying housed. As property taxes rise nationwide, housing counselors are uniquely positioned to help homeowners stay ahead of these pressures, avoid unnecessary hardship, and preserve long‑term homeownership. This is another reminder of why our work matters — and why early, trusted, consumer‑focused guidance is essential to sustainable homeownership. #NHRC #HUDCertifiedProud #HousingCounseling #Housingforall #SustainableHomeownership #HousingStability #FinancialWellness

£369 million is going into research, development & innovation in the creative industries over the next 5 years. This is a lot of money, so it is EXTREMELY important we all keep updated on when & how it's being spent. --------------------------- So what does the breakdown of that £369m look like? 💰 Research and Big Ideas (£269 million): For targeted projects meant to solve specific problems or explore new opportunities that the government thinks are important for the whole country. 💰 Innovative Companies (£100 million): For creative companies to help them start, grow and ensure they stay in the UK rather than moving overseas. 💰 The "Matching" Goal: The government doesn't want to be the only one spending money - for every £1 the government puts in, private investors will chip in at least £3. --------------------------- Who is in charge of deciding where the funding goes & what happens next? 👉 UK Research and Innovation - the big boss overseeing the whole project. 👉 Innovate UK - they will likely be the ones be updating everyone on the £100m small business grants. 👉 Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) - they will be helping decide the £269m AND they have their own separate pot of £167 million for 'curiosity-driven' research that you want to keep an eye on too. 👉 The 'SRO' - the Creative Industries will have a Senior Responsible Owner (an Executive Chair) responsible for making sure the research actually meets the government’s goals. 👉 The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology - they are setting the big government priorities and might sometimes announce major milestones or new goals/missions for the sector. --------------------------- Where can you keep up to date with the funding developments? 💥 UKRI has a central 'Funding Finder' on their website where they list every opportunity and award. 💥 Spring 2026 is a BIG date to circle on the calendar. UKRI will reveal exactly how they plan to hand out the money. 💥 Follow UKRI, AHRC & Innovate UK on linkedin & sign up for their newsletters. --------------------------- As always, I hope this is helpful - please share this post to spread the word! #funding #creativeindustries #creativeindustry #creativeeconomy #creativecareers