A pro-preservation piece of state legislation in support of increased funding for the state Historic Tax Credit has been picked up by the Maryland League of Conservation Voters as part of their influential weekly list of bills that impact Maryland’s environment — helping to continue to make the connection that the greenest building is the one that is already built.
Every week, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, an environmental advocacy group, releases their Hot List, a detailed list of environmental legislation moving through the Maryland General Assembly. This list is then hand delivered and emailed to every legislator, every week. This week, a preservation bill that Preservation Maryland has been supporting was included on the Hot List — SB481/HB954 “Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit – Reserve Fund – Mandated Appropriation.”
This bill will increase the appropriation of the Competitive Commercial Historic Tax Credit program, administered by the Maryland Historical Trust, from $9M to a mandated $15M annually. By incentivizing development in older, existing communities, the $6M increase in funding is expected to result in significant reduction in vehicle-miles traveled and landfill waste, as well as greenfield open space saved.
The historic tax credit is one of the best tools historic preservation has to incentivize the reuse of the built environment. While the economic benefits of the tax credit are often discussed, it would do the credit a disservice to not also consider the profound environmental impact historic preservation can have.
DOCUMENTED IMPACT
The benefits of historic preservation to the environment have been documented in an Abell Foundation Report on the Historic Tax Credit in Maryland. The Report found that, on average, every $1M in historic tax credits can be expected to result:
- 264,000 fewer vehicle-miles traveled,
- A reduction of 2,500 tons in landfill waste,
- 5.2 acres of greenfield open space saved, and
- $800,000 in infrastructure savings.
Preservation Maryland commends the Maryland League of Conservation Voters for realizing and promoting the positive impacts that an increased historic tax credit would have on Maryland’s environment.
Learn more about current historic tax credit legislation
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