Author: Swaim, Richard

Publication Year:

Media Type: Periodical (article)

Summary:

Abstract:

Academic Richard Swain, who is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore, describes how the Maryland Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Program "became the most expensive in the state's history," and how "legislators voted to create and repeatedly expand a program that many of them knew little about."

Swain also provides some background about historic preservation agencies on both the state and federal levels. He comments that "What had been largely intramural activity within political and policy circles in Washington has proliferated in the states and evolved to include economic science as a political and technocratic management tool..."

He explains that the primary economic incentive offered on the federal level is the historic preservation tax credit, which was created by the Tax Reform Act of 1976. This tax-incentive program allows a credit of up to 20 percent of the cost of renovating a property of historical significance. "To date, the credit has been used on more than 27,000 properties, stimulated $18 billion worth of private rehabilitation, and created nearly 150,000 housing units." Furthermore, it was estimated  by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1997 that "cultural heritage tourists generated $164 billion in economic benefits."

The central argument Swaim poses is that "tax credits should be scrutinized and evaluated as direct spending programs are. Both legislators and their staffs should ask if the credit is structured in a rational and equitable manner." Swaim accounts the Maryland Heritage Tax Credit Program and uses it as a case study. "The Maryland tax credit illustrates the below-the-surface nature of tax expenditures policy and the result when tax subsidies are hidden from view. The experience reveals a policy process that is one filled with incomplete information, misunderstandings, and overall a failure of oversight."

CONTENTSﾝ
Creating the National Framework.
Tax Expenditures and Public Policy.
The Maryland Example.
Genesis.
Lessons.
Notes.
References.
Additional Sources.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Funding