A conference agreement on the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act includes language preserving the Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Incentives program, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, said Monday.
A vote on the conference report for H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, is scheduled for today.
Westerman led a group of legislators asking for the Historic Tax Credit to be included in the final version of the bill. Twenty-five congressmen, including Westerman, wrote Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, on Dec. 7 emphasizing the importance of the HTCs.
"We had a large contingent of House members who felt this was important," Westerman said in a telephone interview on Monday.
"If you look at some economic studies that have been done, it shows that these credits actually generate a return to the government of 1.2 to 1."
The House version of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act repealed the rehabilitation credit, while a Senate amendment repealed the 10-percent credit for pre-1936 buildings and retained the 20-percent credit for qualified rehabilitation expenditures with respect to a certified historic structure, with a modification.
The conference agreement follows the Senate amendment, with a modification to the transition rule under the effective date related to qualified rehabilitation expenditures under certain phased rehabilitations, for which the taxpayer may select a 60-month period, according to the text of the conference language provided by Westerman's office.
"It's over a five-year period, but it's also got a transition period in it so that if you already own a property, by the end of this year you've got six months to start work on the project and another 24 months to finish the project to get the full 20-percent credit under the old rule, where it's not split out over five years," Westerman said.
"The bottom line is, we've preserved the Historic Tax Credit, which is a good thing for many places in the 4th District, for all over Arkansas, and all over the country. That was our main goal, and we managed to accomplish that," Westerman said.
The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce has worked since early last month to rally support for the HTC, which was not included in the initial version of the White House tax reform bill, citing its importance to the redevelopment of Hot Springs.
At a news conference in early November, Gary Troutman, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and the Hot Springs Metro Partnership, said elimination of the historic tax credit would be "devastating for the continued revitalization of downtown Hot Springs, as well as other cities in Arkansas and across America."
Troutman had cited the examples of the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa in Hot Springs and the Pines Hotel in Pine Bluff, noting, in part, that without the HTC, the Arlington Hotel renovation is "not economically feasible."
Specific to Hot Springs, Westerman noted Monday that the town has a large historic district and a large number of buildings in the National Historic Register.
"When you're looking at what it takes to go in and work on these buildings and preserve the historic features of the building, it costs more money than it does just to go in and build new construction," Westerman said.
Buildings in the downtown area, in particular the Arlington and the bath houses on Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park, have "a lot of character that helps to draw visitors to Hot Springs."
"It's very important to Hot Springs," he said.
Local on 12/19/2017