Since the enactment of the state historic preservation tax credit more than six months ago, the Corbett administration has been working to establish the guidelines and align them with the federal historic preservation tax credit.

 

The Department of Community and Economic Development, which is also busy working on guidelines for two other non-related tax credits, is statutorily expected to have the program running by July 1.

 

Ed Geiger, director for DCED's Center for Community Financing, is reluctant to give a specific date. He said the department is working out issues with the state Department of Revenue and the Governor's Office.

 

"We're still working on the guidelines," Geiger said. "The statute has raised a number of questions."

 

Once the program is up and running, applicants would be able to apply online for a 25 percent credit against state income tax for projects that involve the rehabilitation of commercial buildings, including those used as rental housing.

 

With demand expected to be high, the task of distributing the tax credits will be made harder because only $3 million is available annually. To determine the best qualified project the agencies involved will have to weigh a number of factors.

 

"We expect there's going to be a lot of interest in this," said Mindy Crawford, executive director of Preservation Pennsylvania.

 

Among the requirements needed to qualify for a tax credit is that the building must be located in historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places or in locally designated historic districts.

 

DCED is one part of the process. It's developing the regulations, guidelines and applications. Once the program is in place, the department will receive the applications, issue the tax credit certificate and assure equitable regional distribution of the credits.

 

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will verify that an applicant's building qualifies as a historic structure; review rehabilitation plans; verify the project's completion; and notify DCED of the amount of qualified expenditures.

 

The Department of Revenue will process the tax credit certificate.

 

Among the issues DCED and PHMC's Bureau of Historic Preservation are working out with Revenue is ensuring an accessible process for applicants to apply for both the state historic tax credit and the 20 percent federal historic tax credit.

 

"To the best of our ability we are going to try to make the applications similar," said Scott Doyle, who oversees the federal tax credit and will oversee the state tax credit for PHMC. "We're looking forward to getting the program going."

 

But how soon the program is up and running and whether it meets its July 1 deadline remains a question.