State historic preservation official outlines tax credits and assessment freeze for Lebanon City properties

A representative of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) told Lebanon City property owners on May 11 that federal and state incentives can substantially lower the cost of rehabilitating historic buildings — but only when projects trigger a formal review by SHPO because they involve state or federal funding, licensing or permitting.

"We encourage people to do the right thing with their historic resources, but we are not preservation police," the State Historic Preservation Office representative said, explaining that listing on the National Register does not itself impose restrictions on property owners.

The presenter said the city’s National Register district, designated in 1978, originally covered about 211 buildings; 186 were classified as contributing to the district’s historic significance and 25 non-contributing. Contributing buildings are the ones eligible for the rehabilitation incentives discussed.

Federal rehabilitation tax credits apply to "certified historic" income-producing buildings — defined as an individually listed National Register property, a contributing building in a listed district, or a locally designated district certified by the National Park Service. The SHPO official said the federal credit is typically worth 20% of qualified renovation costs, requires a substantial rehabilitation (an expenditure test measured against the building’s adjusted basis) and that work meet the Secretary of the Interior’s rehabilitation standards.…