MML The Review MarchApr 2021 Magazine

THE LAB REPORT

Ideas, initiatives, and activities from the League’s Policy Research Labs

The Return of the Historic Tax Credit It's back, baby! Let's take this renewed Michigan Historic Tax Credit out for a ride!

By Melissa Milton-Pung

O n December 30, 2020, Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bill 54, reinstating the Michigan Historic Preservation Tax Credit with Public Act 343 of 2020. Good policy, in most instances, takes a long time to craft. Done well, it puts into place the tools necessary to make wonderful things happen. This is the case with the Michigan Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit, known as the HTC. I've always loved historic buildings but loving something without a way to pay for it doesn't do anyone a damn bit of good. Historic Tax Credits get things done, especially when money is hard to come by. Okay, so I’m a bit biased. Years ago, I wrote my Master’s thesis on this topic, studying how financial incentives operate in many states across the U.S. and in different market conditions. I later joined the Michigan Historic Preservation Network’s (MHPN) Public Policy Committee in advocating to enhance Michigan's HTC. We worked closely with the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office to understand how the credit worked here, successfully argued to stack it with the Federal HTC, and won out on syndication to get projects that precious working capital up front. During the gut punch of the Great Recession, the Michigan HTC enabled dozens of projects like the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, the City of Mt. Pleasant Offices in the former Borden Creamery building, and even the rehabilitation of the Miller Mutual Building for the Christman Company (which also houses the League’s own Lansing office), to occur amid the dead zone of financial collapse.

The League's Lansing Office, in the LEED Triple-Platinum Award-winning Christman Building at 208 N. Capitol.

40 THE REVIEW MARCH / APRIL 2021