In July 2024, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed legislation, H.B. 2062, to provide bonus State Historic Tax Credit (HTC) for historic preservation in counties outside of Kansas City and St. Louis. It went into effect on Aug. 28, 2024. The new law changes several provisions, including increasing the HTC from 25 to 35 percent for properties that don’t include cities with more than 400,000 residents. The new legislation includes other changes, such as:
- Nonprofits are now eligible to receive HTCs;
- The timeline for beginning rehabilitation has been increased from nine to 24 months;
- HTCs for historic structures over a million square feet can be spread out over six years.
As of August 2024, Massachusetts’s State HTC cap was doubled from $55 million to $110 million annually. The increase is part of a larger initiative to preserve and rehabilitate over 65,000 homes. The new cap is expected to have a significant impact on the Gateway Cities (mid-sized urban centers with historic buildings that could be redeveloped as affordable housing).
Pennsylvania’s State HTC annual cap was also increased in August 2024 as part of Senate Bill 654, which raises the cap from $5 million to $20 million and allows any unused amount from a previous year to be used on a first-come, first-served basis. The increased funding is expected to make historic rehabilitation projects more financially viable.
