Feyen Champions Historic Preservation Tax Credit Bill

State Senator Dan Feyen championed a bill on its way to the Governor’s desk that would raise the cap for the Historic Preservation tax credit. The state lawmaker from Fond du Lac says it encourages developers to redevelop historic properties. He says, “Some of these are very, very old buildings that need a lot of work. With these tax credits it makes them viable, it also preserves buildings most of them are in downtowns that need restoration.” He points out the Hotel Retlaw is a good example of a project that is using historic tax credits to renovate a historic property. The $25 million project is in the heart of Fond du Lac’s downtown. Feyen says the main purpose of the bill is to raise the cap for the credit. He says, “Right now it’s capped at $500,000 per project. It increases the cap to $3.5 million per project in credits, which makes a lot of these projects more viable. At $500,000 some of these projects get very expensive very quickly.” Under the bill up to 20 percent of renovation costs would qualify for historic tax credits.