Author: Rob Naylor

Senate and House champions have reintroduced the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 1785, S.639). Led by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in the Senate and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) in the House, these bills include four permanent provisions that will add value to the Historic Tax Credit (HTC), improve access to the credit, make more projects eligible to use the credit, and increase investment in smaller rehabilitation projects. The House version of the bill also includes a temporary provision to address recent challenges facing historic rehabilitation projects. The bill including the following changes:

Permanent Provisions

• Establishes a permanent 30% Historic Tax Credit for projects $2.5 million and less, making it easier to complete small projects
• Eliminates the HTC Basis Adjustment, bringing more value to HTCs and making it easier to pair with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
• Reduces the substantial rehabilitation threshold, making more buildings eligible to use the HTC
• Makes the credit easier to use by non-profits

Temporary Provision (House version only)

• This provision increases the HTC percentage from 20% to 30% for 2023 through 2026.
• The credit percentage is phased down to 26% in 2027, 23% in 2028, and returns to 20% in 2029 and thereafter.

The federal HTC is the largest federal investment in historic preservation and a critical economic development tool used to revitalize our communities. Unfortunately, the value of the HTC incentive has diminished over the past decade because of IRS rulings, administrative burdens, changes in the credit structure, as well as spreading the distribution of the credit over five years as modified by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. As a result, the HTC has lost 20 – 25% of its investment value as interest rates continue to climb and materials and labor costs soar. National Park Service statistics indicate that HTC applications are down 20% compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019), and the number of projects continues to decline even as the economy is rebounding. Historic buildings have simply become more difficult to rehabilitate.

We need your help! Urge your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the bipartisan Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 1785, S. 639) and look for opportunities to include these provisions in future tax legislation. Help us build on the momentum from last Congress that saw a record number of co-sponsors on the bill.

If you have a personal contact in your Representative or Senators’ office, contact that person directly, especially if you just met with their office during Advocacy Week. Urge them to co-sponsor the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 1785, S. 639). If they do not handle tax issues please ask that they pass the message along to the appropriate staff person. Preservation Action has also made it easy for you take action. Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your members of Congress and share this alert with your networks!

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Additional Resources

• Historic Tax Credit One Pager- Advocacy Week 2024
• National Preservation Organizations’ Release in Support
• HTC State Maps and Project Lists

Congress is in the appropriations process, which will determine Fiscal Year 2024 funding levels for historic preservation. We need your help! FY24 Dear Colleague letters in support of the Historic Preservation Fund are currently circulating in the Senate. The letter request $225 million in funding for the Historic Preservation Fund, the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. The dear colleague letter includes much-needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, which are facing increased workloads as the infrastructure bill is implemented, and increases to critically important competitive grant programs. Check out our Historic Preservation Fund Appropriations 1-Pager to learn more.

To maximize the impact of the letter, we need as many Senators to sign-on as possible. We’ve made it easy for you to take action, click-on the Action Alert below to easily personalize and send a letter to your Senators.

Deadlines for signatures are quickly approaching, so reach out to your U.S Senators TODAY!

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Senate

• The Senate letter is being led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
• Signatures due: Thursday March 30, 2023
• If you have a personal contact in your Senator’s office, contact that person directly, especially if you just met with their office during Advocacy Week, and urge them to sign-on to the HPF dear colleague letter. If they do not handle Interior Appropriations please ask that they pass the message along to the Interior Appropriations staffer. Preservation Action has also made it easy for you take action. Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your Senators today!

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House

• Thank you for reaching out to your Representatives!
• The House letter received 86 bipartisan cosigners and was submitted to the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee.
• Thank you to the co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) for leading the letter!
• Did your Representative sign-on? Be sure to thank them!

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The letters will be submitted to the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee respectively and marks a strong commitment to protecting our historic resources for future generations.

Thank you for your advocacy!