Financial Incentives
There are many local, state and federal programs available to assist qualifying rehabilitation projects. Although the emphasis of many of these may not be historic preservation, a historic rehabilitation project is not precluded from receiving funding, if the project meets the required criteria. Programs listed below that include the word "historic" in the title are specific to historic preservation.
Local
For information on available grants and tax abatement in Downtown Ames, please visit our Downtown page.
State
The State HPCED Tax Credit Program provides a STATE income tax credit for the sensitive, substantial rehabilitation of historic buildings. It ensures character-defining features and spaces of buildings are retained and helps revitalize surrounding neighborhoods. The program provides an income tax credit of up to 25% of qualified rehabilitation expenditures. Building must be historically significant by meeting at least one of the following criteria:
- Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places or determined by the staff at the State Historic Preservation Office to be eligible for listing
- Building is contributing to the significance of a historic district that is listed on or eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places
- Building is designated as a local landmark by city or county ordinance
This program provides a LOCAL property tax incentive for the sensitive, substantial rehabilitation of historic buildings. While all counties are required to offer this exemption, not all counties have set priorities for the program. Here is a link to Story County's program. The program provides a combination of four years full exemption from any increased valuation due to the rehabilitation, followed by four years of property tax increases (25% per year) up to the new valuation.
This program provides grants to help preserve, conserve, interpret, enhance, and educate the public about Iowa's historical assets (includes historic preservation). The following broad project types can be funded with Historical Resource Development Program grants:
- Acquisition and development of historical resources
- Preservation and conservation of historical resources
- Interpretation of historical resources Professional training and educational programs on the acquisition, development, preservation, conservation and interpretation of historical resources
Emergency Historical Resource Development Program (Grant)
These grants are for Iowa historical resources that require timely action to prevent immediate loss of the resource. The threat to the resource cannot be the result of the delinquency of the current owner.
Federal
This program encourages private sector investment in the rehabilitation and repurposing of historic buildings. The federal tax incentives program for Iowa properties is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in partnership with the State Historic Preservation Office of Iowa. Complete information is available from Technical Preservation Services.