Sec. of Revenue clarifies historic tax credits - Wichita Business Journal:

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But Wichita developer Dave Burk says newguidelinesz don’t provide clarity for projectds like his — at the formetr , which Burk is converting to apartments that haven’t been completed. “They are guideliness for some people but not he says. In an effortr to balance the state’s the Legislature capped the historic tax credif programat $3.75 million for the 2010 and 2011 fiscao years, driving fears among developers that the tax credit program would be sharply curtailed and stalk downtown redevelopment work in Wichit a and statewide. The tax credits in the past have been good for up to 25 percenrt of historicrenovation projects.
Developers can hold them for up to 10 yeard or can sell them as a way to generate equith fortheir projects. The credits came on top of a 20 percentt tax credit from thefederal government. But lawmakerxs capped the credits as part of a broader bill to preservestate revenue. After meeting Thursdaty with developers and local economicdevelopment officials, the Revenue Departmen crafted guidelines for how it will appluy the law. The department appeared to give more leewahy than developers initially thought theywouled get. The department said any tax credits that already have been issuecd canbe redeemed, without limit.
But it said it wouldx cap the issuance of new tax creditss in each of the next two yearsat $6.25 million which would equate, in a normalo year, to about $3.75 million in redemptions. The department says an averagw of only 60 percent of the credite that are issued in a year are redeemed thatsame “For what the legislative brancnh did to her, she had a good Burk says of Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon. “But it certainly doesn’t solve the problem.” He says the cap in the issuancse of tax credits leaves him in the dark aboutrwhether he’ll be able to secured them for his apartment which won’t be complete until Burk plans to seek $1.
1 million in creditse and says he has secured investorsa to buy them. “The problem is a projecr like mine that is about halfway throughy that is based on that as a financing Theystill haven’t been able to tell me where I stand, which makew it hard for me to tell anybodg else,” he says. “Peoplde don’t like uncertainty, especially bankers and Burk’s $6 million project is financedcthrough Kingman’s . He says without the credits, he would need to find an additionalo $1.
1 million in capital to complete the Burk says he continues to hold out hope that the Legislaturer will overturn the tax credit changes during its annual ceremonial adjournment sessioj Thursdayin Topeka. But lawmakers almost neve r take major actionthat day, and many of them don’tt even attend. “There’s not a lot of Burk says. He says he wasn’t sure what legislator would take the lead on the The flap over the historic preservation taxcredits — first reported in Friday’s Wichita Businesds Journal — has created widespread concermn statewide, but especially in Wichita and Johnsonn County where developers are engaged in downtown restoratiohn projects and other historic renovation work.
The Kansas Departmentr of Revenue on Friday announced a meeting in Topekaq next week to discuss the taxcredity program. The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesdayy at the State Capitol.