Historic buildings are assets to smaller legacy cities – but funding their renovation can be difficult.
Smaller legacy cities are often rich with history, but lack the funding to rehabilitate their historic assets into something that can drive downtown revitalization. One tool that has worked successfully across the country is the Federal Historic Preservation Tax credit. The program has leveraged over $84 billion in private investment since 1976.
The program is administered by the National Park Service and the Internal Revenue Service. The 20% tax credit is available for the rehabilitation of historic income-producing buildings that are determined by the National Park Service to be “certified historic structures.”
For more information on project eligibility and how the tax credit works, check out the brochure produced by the National Park Service. Some parts of this program have been affected by the tax bill passed by Congress in December 2017.
Additionally, many states offer their own historic preservation tax credit programs. Click here to see what kinds of historic tax credits your state offers.