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Preservation advocates push to double Vermont downtown tax credit as demand outpaces $3 million cap
Summary
State housing officials told the Ways & Means Committee the Downtown and Village Center Tax Credit program is highly oversubscribed; a preservation group urged lawmakers to raise the statutory $3,000,000 annual cap—proposing $6,000,000—to meet rising demand and new eligibility under land-use reforms.
Caitlin Corkins, a program specialist at the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development, told the Ways & Means Committee that the Downtown and Village Center Tax Credit program, created in 1998, provides a mix of state credits to support downtown and village center revitalization and currently carries a statutory annual cap of $3,000,000. To qualify for awards, a building must be at least 30 years old and located in a designated downtown or village center; awarded projects have three years to complete work and receive certificates.
The program offers several credit types. Corkins said the historic credit requires listing in the National Register and an approved federal Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit (RITC) application; the federal credit covers 20% of qualifying rehabilitation expenses and the state adds an additional 10% on the same…
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