Many folks don't get the connection between the federal historic tax credit and creating sustainable neighborhoods. Someone who did was Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. That is why her sudden death last week came as such a blow to historic preservationists. Speaking of legislation she sponsored to improve the HTC, she one said "harnessing greater...potential in underutilized historic and older buildings and focusing more...investment in... ‘main street’ commercial structures makes so much sense. [It] has already transformed so many [Cleveland] communities." Below is a tribute to Tubbs Jones by Heather MacIntosh, President of Preservation Action. You can read the whole post here: http://www.preservationaction.org/states/8.21.2008.htm
PRESERVATION LOSES GREAT FRIEND IN CONGRESS
Image left: Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), 1949-2008. Photo courtesy Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones' office.
Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), majority sponsor of the Community Restoration and Revitalization Act (H.R.1043), died Wednesday August 20th after suffering an aneurysm. Tubbs Jones, whose 11th district includes Cleveland's East and West Sides, was a member of the Ways and Means Committee, the House of Representatives' tax committee. She was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Historic Preservation Caucus. She was Ohio's first black female Representative.
As the primary sponsor of preservation's primary tax bill, Tubbs Jones and her staff worked diligently over the last several years to increase sponsorship for H.R.1043, improvements to the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit program. This past spring, at a mark up of an affordable housing incentive package, Tubbs Jones spoke up for these improvements, and worked behind the scenes to get similar, preservation-friendly changes into the bill.
These included an amendment that allows the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits to be used as an offset to the Alternative Minimum Tax. As a result of her work, "historic nature" is now taken into account when the federal government allocates tax credits among projects. She also saw through an improvement to the FRTC supporting tax exempt use in tax credit properties. Prior to Tubbs Jones' work, projects with more than 35% tax exempt use have not been eligible for the full FRTC credit. An H.R. 1043 amendment proposed that tax payers qualify for the full credit in projects with as much as 50% tax exempt use.
These changes stuck during the conference process with the Senate. These became law on July 23. These changes were the first improvements to the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Program in over 30 years.
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