Our Position on State Historic Preservation Tax Credits
Older properties are often located in economically depressed central business districts of both small towns and large urban areas. According to a National Park Service study, 58% of the historically and/or architecturally significant contributing buildings in 10,000 of the nation's historic districts are located in census tracts where the poverty rate exceeds 20 percent. In towns such as Providence, Rhode Island, Richmond, Virginia, and St. Louis, Missouri, these areas are coming back to life through rehabilitation of their historic buildings. This economic revitalization is being driven by federal and state tax credits.
After World War II, social and economic forces produced a migration away from cities leaving behind a huge inventory of historically or architecturally significant older buildings. To spur more private investment in these neighborhoods, thirty states offer state rehabilitation tax credits.
We believe that state historic preservation tax incentives are critical to the revitalization of our country's older communities. Therefore, the National Trust helps encourage and protect state rehabilitation tax credit programs.
