Our Threatened Historic Tax Credit is About Jobs, Investment, and Stabilizing Communities

{13 homes on the 4400 block of Gibson Avenue in St. Louis have been renovated using historic tax credits}

A group of Missouri legislators working to dramatically reduce the historic tax credit are asking if we really want to spend this much money on old buildings. Considering that other primary goals include creating jobs, attracting businesses, and garnering a competitive edge on surrounding states, the answer is yes, we do want to keep an incentive that revitalizes historic buildings in Missouri. At its heart, the program is less about preserving iconic historic buildings and more about leveraging investment in the older, unique neighborhoods and core downtowns that define and anchor our communities statewide.

The historic tax credit is an economic development incentive that has created 43,000 jobs, nearly $7 billion in direct private investment, and effectively returns vacant and underutilized buildings, usually in depressed areas, back to re-use and property tax rolls. The Senate’s hell-bent desire to reduce the historic tax credit by over 50% is therefore quite incongruous with its stated effort to harbor a statewide environment of strong economy-boosting opportunity. Their argument is that all tax credit programs need to be cut. But not all tax credit programs are equal, and the historic tax credit has been well-documented as our best economic development and job creation incentive.