State halts expanded tax credits for rehabbing historic buildings

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/state-halts-expanded-tax-credits-for-rehabbing-historic-b

Madison — Only a half year after the approval of a multimillion-dollar tax credit for rehabilitating historic buildings, Gov. Scott Walker's administration is halting it out of concerns about its impact on the state's tax revenues and budget.

Lawmakers and Walker increased the credit not once but twice last year, quadrupling it to 20% for qualifying projects.

In debate last fall, a few conservative Republicans in the Legislature and articles in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel questioned whether the law could end up cutting state tax revenues by much more than predicted by supporters. But the proposal passed the Legislature last fall with largely bipartisan support and was signed into law in December by Walker.

Republicans, developers and local officials successfully pushed the measure forward by making an unusual alliance with Democrats, trade unions and historic preservationists. The legislation provides the tax credits to developers who restore historic buildings typically located in urban areas such as Milwaukee.

In a letter to the Legislaure's budget committee, the head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. said that already 29 projects have been approved and are eligible for a potential $35 million in state tax credits. That's more than eight times the $4 million set aside for the program in the state budget for the its first year.