STATE TAX CREDIT
PROVES POPULAR INCENTIVE
A 120-year old landmark in the heart of downtown Piqua that had seen better days, the Fort Piqua Hotel has become the spectacular new Piqua Public Library, just one example of the impact that the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit is having in communities throughout Ohio.
Tax Credit Made the Difference
“Rehabilitation has given new life to the Fort Piqua Hotel and to our entire downtown,” says James Oda, director of the Piqua Public Library, now housed in the 1891 building. “Availability of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit made the difference for this project.” Thirty-six Ohio projects have received final certification under Ohio’s state tax credit initiative that was launched in 2008 and was recently renewed in the State of Ohio 2012/2013 biennium budget. The program, which provides a 25 percent credit on qualified rehabilitation expenditures on historic buildings, is administered by the Ohio Department of Development in partnership with the Ohio Historical Society’s Ohio Historic Preservation Office and the Ohio Department of Taxation. A tax credit is a reduction in the amount of tax owed.
Credit Leverages $427 Million Investment in Historic Properties
Since inception of the program, 118 projects from 28 cities and townships in 27 Ohio counties have been approved for the credit and 36 projects have been completed and certified. The 36 projects total more than $72 million in tax credits and will leverage more than $427 million in overall investment.
As with the long-established federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program, each project is carefully reviewed by Ohio Historic Preservation Office staff to ensure that the structure qualifies as a historic building and that rehabilitation work retains the historic character of the building and complies with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, a set of standards used nationwide to guide work that’s appropriate for historic buildings. Nearly all of the approved state projects also qualified for the 20 percent federal historic rehabilitation tax credit.
$40 of Economic Activity for Every $1 Invested
Job-creation statistics associated with this program, for both temporary and permanent jobs, are impressive. According to Ohio Department of Development data, the first four rounds of the program are projected to generate $10 billion in total economic activity and create nearly 7,000 jobs annually. Every $1 invested in state historic preservation tax credits will generate $8 of construction spending and $32 of operating impacts, totaling $40 of economic activity. In addition, returning the largely vacant buildings to productive use generates nearly $430 million in new property, income and sales tax revenues for state and local governments.