Historic preservation state tax credit likely dead for session

It is looking like plans for a state-based historic preservation tax credit will have to wait until next year.

“Because there are so many new legislators, a new governor, tax reform and the Medicaid expansion, there are just too many things that need to be settled in and worked on to focus on it this year,” said Paula Benson, president of the board of directors for Preservation Idaho, part of a coalition of nonprofit groups that has been working on the legislation for several years. “We have been given encouragement from a number of areas for the general idea of the tax program, although there are some specifics that will need to be decided.”

The bill would have given developers of historic buildings up to a 20 percent tax credit on money spent to rehabilitate them. While such a tax credit would cost Idaho money, statistics from other states, as well as experience with the existing similar federal program, indicate that such credits more than pay for themselves considering how much money is spent on renovation, as well as the taxes those buildings produce once they are rehabilitated

The coalition is still aiming toward next year. “Our goal is to have it up for a vote in 2020. With 35 states on board with a state program, there is good precedent even in more fiscally conservative states, for initiation of this type of tax credit,” Benson said. “We will spend this year focusing on building support across the state with our current stakeholders and expanding to get a broader group that will send the message to the legislators and state government that this is seen as a real benefit to communities and cities, big and small.”

Historic preservationists are anxious to get the tax credit implemented, because of the new Opportunity Zones community development program. While Opportunity Zones could provide useful synergy to help rehabilitate old buildings, especially in rural areas, they don’t include protections or incentives to help preserve them. Without such incentives, Opportunity Zones — like urban renewal in the 1960s — could actually hasten the demolition of those buildings.