A bill proposed in January that would apply a tax credit to preservation of historical buildings in Michigan could help bring new life to old structures across the state.
Sens. Ken Horn (R-Frankenmuth), Dale Zorn (R-Lansing), Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) proposed Senate Bill 54, which would allow a 25 percent tax credit for historical preservation and rehabilitation to those who wish to tackle the state's historical venues. The tax credit, which was done away with in 2011, is designed to encourage historical preservation and rehabilitation in downtown areas, but it tends to receive push back from the local community, who values control over the area, Horn said.
"I think that we need to preserve our history, especially in small downtown, but we’re just having hard time convincing colleagues of that," Horn said. "It is something we keep working on. We think it’s important."
It is so important that Horn said he tries to bring it up every term to keep it fresh in people's minds and get them thinking about historic buildings and who is taking care of them.
"Every community has its historic buildings, old banks and old stores and the shops downtown, and downtown is really becoming popular again, even as a tourist destination," Horn said.
But one large issue concerning the preservation of historic buildings surrounds cities like Flint, which has very old buildings in poor shape. The question of what to do with these buildings lies with the communities they're in, Horn said.
"In places like Flint where you have a lot of dilapidated buildings, many of them historic, but they're in such condition that – do you tear them down? Do you rebuild them? These are local decisions that have to be made." Horn said. "If someone has one of these tax credits, it makes it harder to make these decisions. So you can see why cities that are trying to rebuild themselves don’t want to lose the flexibility and the tools that they have to regrow their communities. We hate buildings being torn down, but if there is one that is so far beyond fixing and you can't tear it down, what do you do? These are questions that have to asked all around the state of Michigan."
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