Posted by NTCIC on 1st February 2011
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First Annual Rutgers Report Illustrates Historic Tax Credits’ Ability to Create Jobs, Stimulate Economy

Last March, NTCIC and Rutgers University released a comprehensive new study which analyzes the economic impact of the federal Historic Tax Credit since its inception in 1976 and concludes that the Historic Tax Credit is a highly efficient job creator—accounting for the creation of 1.8 million new jobs over the life of the program. The study found that Historic Tax Credits generated those jobs more efficiently than other stimulus options and, in fact, the study concludes that the economic activity leveraged by Historic Tax Credit returns more tax revenue to the U.S. Treasury than the cost of implementing the program. The report, the first-ever to examine the economic impact of the Historic Tax Credit, also underscores the need for additional legislation to strengthen the federal credits, making them more widely available for smaller, rural projects and also encouraging their use for green and sustainable rehab projects. Research and production of the Second Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit is well underway and will be available at the 2011 Lobby Day – for more information on Lobby Day 2011 events please visit http://www.preservationaction.org/lobbyday.htm.

Click on the cover to view the full report

Major findings of the report include:

  • The Historic Tax Credit is an efficient job creator— rehabilitation investments have generated about 1.8 million new jobs since 1976 and 58.8 thousand in 2008 alone. The Rutgers study shows that historic rehab projects require more highly skilled workers, generate better-paying jobs and return more economic benefits to local communities than other stimulus strategies such as highway construction. For example, a job created by Historic Tax Credits costs approximately $9,000, whereas the average cost of creating a job through the federal stimulus package is about $248,000.
  • The cumulative impacts to the national economy are substantial, including $198 billion in total output, $98 billion towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP), $72 billion in wages and salaries, and $29 billion in federal, state and local taxes.
  • The federal Historic Tax Credit is a strategic investment for the nation, evidenced by the fact that the total federal cost of the HTC, $16.6 billion in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars, is more than offset by the $21 billion in additional federal taxes paid as a result of HTC project activity to date. In addition, the $16.6 billion investment has leveraged a five times greater amount of historic rehabilitation costs—a total of $85 billion.


    • While underscoring the success of the Historic Tax Credit program, the report suggests several improvements to modernize the program and ensure its continued efficacy—all of which are included in the Community Restoration and Revitalization Act now before Congress. The legislation, introduced in the House by Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Patrick Tiberi (ROH) and in the Senate by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), seeks to amend the Historic Tax Credit to facilitate smaller, Main Street-scale investments, providing incentives for the kind of sustainable rehab projects that make historic buildings more energyefficient, and expanding the number of properties that would be eligible to earn these federal tax credits.

     

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