Tax credit workshop held
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on March 20, 2016 1:45 AM
Dozens met at the Goldsboro City Hall on Wednesday to attend a historic rehabilitation tax credit workshop as part of the 2016 Main Street Conference.
The workshop concentrated on informing property owners, consultants, developers and other interested parties about newly-instituted programs which allow them to gain tax credits when rehabilitating buildings registered on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Created as a provision on the 2015 budget, the program was formally put into effect on Jan. 1.
This marks the program's restoration after it was discontinued at the end of 2014.
The workshop was led by rehabilitation specialists Tim Simmons and Jeff Adolphsen, and focused mainly on income-producing projects.
There are building rehabilitations which are designed to restore a location in order to use it as a place of business.
This could include turning an old bank into a restaurant or an abandoned mill building into an affordable living complex.
Under the new program, income-producing projects can receive a 20 percent federal tax credit as well as a state credit of 15-25 percent.
The state credit piggybacks off of the federal, so in order to gain access to the state credit a project must qualify for the federal beforehand.
The first step towards getting the tax credits is making sure the building in question is registered on the national registry of Historic Places. This list is maintained by the National Park Service.
In order to be listed, a three-part application process is necessary.
The first part of the process determines if the building is actually a historic structure. The IRS requires this step to be complete before the project is finished, but Simmons said that developers should get it done before even starting.
The second stage determines if the proposed work adheres to the secretary of the interior's standards. These are a set of 10 rules centered around making sure that the unique spirit and character of a historic place is kept intact throughout the rehabilitation process.
The third stage consists of a request for a certification of completed work from the NPS. This is essentially just a final walk-through that confirms the work was done as approved.
Simmons also said that any rehab project on a building built before 1936 that is not on the registry can also receive a 10% federal credit.
Adolphsen said that, above all, having a good team is paramount to a successful rehabilitation. Rehab projects require a good contractor, accountant, architect, and restoration specialist, among others.
For more information, call the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office at 919-807-6570 to arrange a consultation with a restoration specialist.