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Save historic preservation tax credits

written by Mark Johnson

Thursday, 16 April 2009 00:00

There's a move in the General Assembly to eliminate historic tax preservation credits. It's a move that Missouri can't afford to make.

Too many communities have had their downtowns restored with the aid of the credits.

Too many homes and buildings that so richly contribute to the character of a community have been saved.

Without the assistance the credits can provide in giving life to an aging structure, it’s easy to see how historic buildings could be lost and how the critical ties a community has to its past could be broken, whether the ties reach to the westward migration period, Civil War-era or early 20th century.

Expecting all property owners to undertake significant restorations without the assistance is unrealistic with the additional costs this type of project often brings.

It’s too easy if it’s simply where the bottom line is concerned to turn to new construction, which often takes place in the outer areas of the city.

That in turn can set up a downward cycle where older homes and buildings in the heart of a community are abandoned, first where maintenance is concerned. Passive demolition sets in. Decay begins to spread.

While it may take years, neighborhoods are lost. Property values drop. Once-vibrant retail areas are seldom traveled. A community’s foundation crumbles.

Care to calculate the costs when that occurs?

Turn no further than a city, often an inner suburb, where that’s happened.

They are easily found, including in the Kansas City area.

The cost to bring back that community is going to be far greater than the cost of the tax credits, which for residential and commercial property are for 25 percent of expenditures that fall within state-mandated guidelines.

There are also significant challenges in drawing people back to a community’s core once they are gone.

While I understand there are legislators who believe there have been abuses with the tax credit program, the answer is not to eliminate what is currently in place but address the areas where there have been problems.

Make sure that the tax credits are being used as intended.

Keep in place what has been so important, especially in communities fewer than 100,000 people.

If that is done, the tax credits will continue to provide short and long-term benefits; creating jobs, stabilizing neighborhoods and maintaining ties with the past, which are often integral to the character and identity of a community.