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In 1976 America celebrated its Bicentennial. That event certainly triggered a sense of patriotism. But it also triggered both a sense of history and renewed aspirations for the future. Ten years earlier the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) had been passed in a bipartisan fashion, with prime sponsors being a Democrat in the Senate and a Republican in the House. This set the precedent for historic preservation being an issue that crossed the political aisle for the next nearly sixty years. It also represented the basic belief that responsibilities for historic preservation should be shared among the national, state, and local governments.
But in 1976 the recognition that we had been a country for 200 years led Congress to enact two important pieces of legislation – the establishment of the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) and the enactment of the first version of the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits. Common to both laws was the fiscally conservative premise that there were more historic resources worthy of preservation than could be funded out of tax dollars. Therefore, the HPF was funded, not through tax dollars, but by monies generated through Outer Continental Shelf oil lease revenue. The logic was that using funds from one non-renewable resource could fund another non-renewable resource.
In the case of the historic tax credits, the same logic was applied – We can’t fund all the historic preservation that ought to occur with taxes, so let’s encourage the private sector to make that investment.
The wisdom of Congress has been evident in both programs ever since their enactment. In the last 25 years nearly $2 Billion has been awarded through the HPF, much of that as grants to State Historic Preservation Offices enabling them to identify, protect, and fund each state’s historic resources. And for every $1 going to the states through the HPF, the states have added $1.04 in matching funds. The historic preservation structure created by the National Historic Preservation Act may be the best example of the federalist system of government envisioned by the Founding Fathers.
Working equally well is the Historic Tax Credit program. Since the program was established, nearly $132 Billion has been invested by the private sector in stewardship of America’s historic resources. Included in that amount is the $250 Million the Trump Organization invested in restoring the Old Post Office as the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC. Rutgers University's annual analysis of the tax credit indicates that for every $1 the federal government issues as tax credits through this program, $1.08 comes back in taxes to the federal treasury. How many federal government programs generate more for the government than they cost? The answer is “damn few” but the historic tax credit is one of them – the ultimate in fiscal responsibility.
By any measure the framework of public historic preservation, the effectiveness of the Historic Preservation Fund, and the attraction of private capital into historic resources are success stories whether one is a conservative, a liberal, or something in between. There is a reason why historic preservation has always been a bipartisan issue.
But now all of that is at risk. If there is a need to cut government programs, cut the ones that don’t work, not the ones that work effectively on both a fiscal and an outcome basis.
Appropriations already authorized by Congress for the Historic Preservation Fund have been frozen. This has already resulted in fiscal strain and personnel reductions in State Historic Preservation Offices. This includes those responsible for approving historic tax credit projects. Further, the current budget eliminates entirely the HPF in the coming fiscal year.
Some Americans want to “Make America Great Again” others think America has always been great, still others think the greatness of America is its ongoing commitment to live up to the ideals upon which it was founded. But each of those perspectives require memory. And historic buildings are the physical manifestation of memory.
What could be more unpatriotic on the eve of America’s 250th birthday than abandoning successful, cost-effective programs that work to preserve the history, the fabric, and the memories of our mothers and fathers. And that should include all aspects of our history. As the conservative intellectual and columnist George Will has written, "In the half-century since the bicentennial, however, many Americans have developed a deeper, sturdier patriotism. They have benefited from historians who demonstrate how mature minds can combine unblinking assessments of history’s inevitable mistakes, cruelties, tragedies and sorrows with gratitude for those who persevered, and reverence for what they achieved: a wonderful nation."
We should be celebrating America’s 250th birthday by expanding the ways we express our gratitude and reverence for what has been achieved: a wonderful nation, rather than abandoning historic preservation.
Donovan Rypkema is principal of PlaceEconomics, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate and economic development-consulting firm. The work of the firm is at the nexus of historic preservation and economics. He has undertaken assignments for public and non-profit sector clients in 49 US states.
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