This, from fellow CenPho and Historic Preservation advocate, Jim McPherson:

On Wednesday, State Senator Linda Gray (Republican) introduced SB 1166 that would eliminate the State Property Tax Reclassification program.  This is the “tax break” for residential historic properties in Arizona: approximately 6,000 total statewide of which approximately 2,900 are in Phoenix and 2,000 in Tucson.  It will be heard in the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

Arizona’s preservation-focused tax incentive has successfully countered private and public land-use policies favoring demolition and new construction, while providing financial benefits to building owners who might otherwise feel burdened by preservation projects.

The proposed bill is linked here: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1166p.htm

To express your opinion about this proposal, contact your state legislator — http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp — and/or members of the Senate Finance Committee:

The Honorable Jim Waring, Chair ~ <jwaring@azleg.gov>
The Honorable Barbara Leff, Vice Chair ~ <bleff@azleg.gov>
The Honorable Ken Cheuvront ~ <kcheuvront@azleg.gov>
The Honorable Pamela Gorman ~ <pgorman@azleg.gov>
The Honorable Ron Gould ~ <rgould@azleg.gov>
The Honorable Debbie McCune Davis ~ <dmccunedavis@azleg.gov>
The Honorable Richard Miranda ~ <rmiranda@azleg.gov>
The Honorable Russell Pearce ~ <rpearce@azleg.gov>

BACKGROUND

Does historic preservation make economic sense?  Does it result in economic benefits as well as esthetic and cultural benefits for communities?  The answer is yes, based on a growing number of studies that quantify the economic impacts of historic preservation.

The following statistics from recent studies are typical of the positive findings of preservation’s economic benefits:
Historic preservation activities generate more than $1.4 billion of economic activity in Texas each year.
Rehabilitation of historic properties in Georgia during a five-year period created 7,550 jobs and $201 million in earnings.
Each dollar of Maryland’s historic preservation tax credit leverages $6.70 of economic activity within that State.
In one year, direct and indirect expenditures by heritage tourists in Colorado reached $3.1 billion.

The ACHP has compiled links to online studies on the economic impacts of historic preservation.  The links to the studies — available at http://www.achp.gov/economicstudies.html — fall into six categories:
General Studies
Statewide Studies
General Community and Resource Studies
Impacts of Historic Designation
Impacts on Property Values
Impacts of Preservation Tax Credits

If you have local statistics and success stories about how historic preservation has benefitted your community and neighborhood, please share.

Jim McPherson
Vice President, Arizona Preservation Foundation