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Officials outline changes to Downtown and Village Center tax credit as demand outpaces funding
Summary
State housing and community development officials told the House Ways & Means Committee that a proposed increase in funding and changes to designation rules will expand eligibility for the Downtown and Village Center tax credit, a key tool for downtown revitalization, historic preservation and flood mitigation.
Christopher Cochran, director of Community Planning and Revitalization at the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, and Caitlin Perkins, tax credit and grants coordinator with the Department of Housing and Community Development, told the House Ways & Means Committee on Feb. 5 that the Downtown and Village Center tax credit program is widely used and currently oversubscribed. The governor’s proposed budget would raise annual funding for the program from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000, officials said.
The tax credit program supports local revitalization by helping pay for building rehabilitation, life-safety code work, facades, historic rehabilitation and flood-mitigation improvements in designated downtowns and village centers. “The program was created in 1998. Currently, it awards $3,000,000 in credits annually,” Perkins said during her overview.
Why it matters: Committee members were told the program is a financing lever that helps towns leverage grants and bank loans and that changes to how places are designated will make more properties eligible.…
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