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,t s 4of • � 3 State and Local Updates L} ` A 5 Newsmakers news 7 1 ro Synagogue - ... A N ....... rtr ;i t, ir, i31 'a X ti gin 17,nuary /rf ,-bMaYy20Q2 o VoiumeVill No. 3 Historic rehabilitation `Tax Credits.' Today Tomorrow and b,NaionalTnatStctff Federal tax incentives for rehabilitation of historic properties, have been a major part of the preserva- tion toolkit for so long that few in preservation today can remember —or even imagine —work- ing without them. The Tax Reform Act of 1976 estab- lished the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Pro gram in 1977. The program allowed owners of buildings certified as historic to take a federal tax deduction for the cost of doing a historically appropriate rehabili- tation of an income - producing property. In 1981, the deduction was converted to a credit (cur- rently set at 20 percent). As the first 25 years of the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program comes to a close, it's a good time to look back —and to look forward. When the tax credits were first introduced, they made many types of rehabilitation projects financially feasible for the first time ever. That attracted, and continues to bring in, an influx of private investment for preser- vation projects. Fran Mainella, director of the National Park The redevelopment ofirn1 erttpr block of 1887baildings in downtown T ichtta,16im oeaied& ioiiPlace ,amived- tueprojectiuith75 aparamentcmtd3o, 000sgtu nefeetofcontmeirialspace. Historic rehabtlitrttz' ont�ctcreditsbxottghtinoiet {ian $2.4ntillioninegnityrothe $l5.6tnillionproyect : Pbota courteryo (iWetroPktbuDevelopment, LLC, Service, sums it up this way: "Before the tax incentives, few accepted the idea that reusing historic buildings could be prof- itable. Today, few question it." The fruits of this federal and private investment in preser- vation can be seen today throughout the nation, in count- less finely restored buildings put to productive use, and in whole communities brought back to conditions of physical beauty and economic vitality The National Park Service reports that since 1976 the His- toric Preservation Tax Incentives have produced the following benefits for the nation: 0 more than 29,000 historic properties have been rehabilitated and saved, • more than $25 billion in private investment has been invested in historic buildings, 9 more than 60,000 units of low- and moder- ate- income hous- ing have been cre- ated. States, too, have recognized the benefits of tax incentives for the rehabilitation of historic proper- ties. Today, 45 states offer provisions in their tax codes — either real property tax relief or state income tax credits —that can benefit historic preservation. These statewide . programs, along with local incen- tives, are combined with the fed- eral credits, further helping to make projects financially viable. The Tax Credits at Work Today Developers widely agree that the federal rehabilitation tax credits spur rehabilitation, especially when these can be combined with other programs. According continued on page2 r� "It can be costly to rehabilitate historic, often vacant, buildings. But the federal historic tax credits hep greatly. In fact, there is a lot ofdevelopment that wouldn't have gotten done without them. " Retreats for Volunteers 3 State and Local Updates 4 Publications & Deadlines 5 Newsmakers Calendar of Events ' 7 1 ro Synagogue - 8 "It can be costly to rehabilitate historic, often vacant, buildings. But the federal historic tax credits hep greatly. In fact, there is a lot ofdevelopment that wouldn't have gotten done without them. "