With Heritage So Fragile: A Critique of the Tax Credit Program for Historic Building Rehabilitation

Abstract

Federal tax credits for rehabilitating historic buildings have contributed substantially to revitalizing older urban districts since 1981. Certain provisions of the program, however, have inadvertently proved detrimental to the historic resources intended for rehabilitation. Negotiations leading to passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 focused on the financial formulas for rehabilitation tax credits, but did not address substantive adjustments. This paper proposes ten policy revisions to the program's design standards for historic building rehabilitation and to the classifications of historic resources eligible for tax credits, to realize more fully the program's goals and better protect irreplaceable historic buildings.