Cincinnati City officials (and Newport KY who just gutted their preservation department) should take along hard look at a recent Rutgers University Study.
The Rutgers University report analyzed the economic impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit since its inception in 1976. These findings illustrate that Preservation creates jobs.
Among the findings:
- In inflation-adjusted (2008) dollars, $16.6 billion in Federal Historic Tax Credit expenditures by the Treasury to date have encouraged a five times greater amount of historic rehabilitation ($85 billion).
- This $85 billion in rehabilitation activity has generated about 1.8 million new jobs (measured in job years) – 58,000 jobs in 2008 alone. These jobs have been concentrated in the construction, manufacturing, service, and retail sectors.
- Jobs generated by historic rehabilitation require higher skill levels and pay better wages than those generated by new construction.
- About 75% of the Federal Historic Tax Credit's economic effects are retained in the localities and states where the projects are located.
- The economic impacts of the Federal Historic Tax Credit are highly targeted to the areas that need it most. Since 2002, National Park Service statistics have indicated that about two-thirds of all Federal Historic Tax Credit projects have been located in Qualified Low-Income Census Tracts.
- The Federal Historic Tax Credit is a highly-efficient producer of jobs. A division of $16.6 billion in aggregate tax expenditures by the 1,815,000 in jobs generated yields a cost per job of less than $10,000, which compares quite favorably to other forms of economic stimulus.
- The economic impacts of the Federal Historic Tax Credit are likely understated by the Rutgers study. Left uncounted are the jobs, wages, and taxes generated by the heritage tourism that is attracted by historic sites and districts. Also not factored into this study is the economic impact of the additional rehabilitation work that typically follows the initial investment as confidence in the area's future rises.
You can read the entire report here: http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/reports/
Rutgers Study Shows: Preservation=Jobs
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