On 06 Feb, 2004, at 17:09, Brian Siano wrote:
Mark Krull wrote:
It appears that such tax-cut incentives will be given to businesses rather than homeowners. (The text doesn't say so explicitly, but it appears in a paragraph dealing with tax breaks given to businesses, so it's a logical assumption.) While this is nice for business-owners, it reinforces one of the problems with Historic Designation: it amounts to a penalty for homeowners, who don't get these breaks.-----Forwarded Message----- Subject: FYI: Historic preservation tax cut
Thanks for your email. I wanted to forward this email to you because it mentions
a proposal by Gov. Rendell for tax cut incentives for historic preservation.
Councilwoman Blackwell might cause the city to lose the potential to earn a lot
of state money, if this bill passes. It might add to your ammunition against
her proposal to mention Gov. Rendell's plans.
I'm confused....
The note explicitly says its a business tax credit.
Naw, _I_ was confused: I didn't catch it being _explicitly_ a tax cut. But you're right, it is.
Furthermore, this is nothing new, unless the previous version (which either expired or was repealed several years ago) of the credit was a Federal tax credit. It is what made "Historic Landmarks for Living" a functioning enterprise.
But it is clear from the note that whoever wrote it is adamantly opposed to the idea of cutting taxes... even when proposed by a Democrat.
I don't buy into the idea that all tax cuts are desirable, but this particular issue points up one of the biggest problems with the Historic District proposal. It's obvious that designation will add requirements of city approval, and prservation-grade restoration labor and skills, to any repairs and renovations we homeowners will face. (In other words: yes, it'll be more expensive, and more difficult.)
Right now, businesses and owners of investment properties can defray _some_ of those costs as business expense deductions. The proposal described may allow them to defray those expenses even more. We could debate the merits of this, but the important point is this: Homeowners _cannot_ make these deductions. We do not get tax breaks or financial assistance. Historic designation amounts to a penalty on homeowners.
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