Bill Text: IL SB2880 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Historic Preservation Tax Credit Act. Provides that, in calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025 and ending on or before December 31, 2028, the State Historic Preservation Office within the Department of Natural Resources may allocate $75,000,000 (currently, $25,000,000) in credits under the Act. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-14 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Mike Porfirio [SB2880 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB2880-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB2880 Introduced 1/24/2024, by Sen. Michael W. Halpin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
35 ILCS 31/20
Amends the Historic Preservation Tax Credit Act. Provides that, in calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2025 and ending on or before December 31, 2028, the State Historic Preservation Office within the Department of Natural Resources may allocate $75,000,000 (currently, $25,000,000) in credits under the Act. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning revenue.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Historic Preservation Tax Credit Act is
amended by changing Section 20 as follows:
(35 ILCS 31/20)
Sec. 20. Limitations, reporting, and monitoring.
(a) In each calendar year beginning on or after January 1,
2019 and ending on or before December 31, 2023, the Division is
authorized to allocate $15,000,000 in tax credits in addition
to any unallocated, returned, or rescinded allocations from
previous years, pursuant to qualified rehabilitation plans. In
the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2024 and ending on
December 31, 2024, the Division is authorized to allocate
$25,000,000 in tax credits in addition to any unallocated,
returned, or rescinded allocations from previous years,
pursuant to qualified rehabilitation plans. In each calendar
year beginning on or after January 1, 2025 January 1, 2024 and
ending on or before December 31, 2028, the Division is
authorized to allocate $75,000,000 $25,000,000 in tax credits
in addition to any unallocated, returned, or rescinded
allocations from previous years, pursuant to qualified
rehabilitation plans. The Division shall not allocate or award

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more than $3,000,000 in tax credits with regard to a single
qualified rehabilitation plan. In allocating tax credits under
this Act, the Division must prioritize applications that meet
one or more of the following:
(1) the structure is located in a county that borders
a State with a historic income-producing property
rehabilitation credit;
(2) the structure was previously owned by a federal,
state, or local governmental entity for no less than 6
months;
(3) the structure is located in a census tract that
has a median family income at or below the State median
family income; data from the most recent 5-year estimate
from the American Community Survey (ACS), published by the
U.S. Census Bureau, shall be used to determine
eligibility;
(4) the qualified rehabilitation plan includes in the
development partnership a Community Development Entity or
a low-profit (B Corporation) or not-for-profit
organization, as defined by Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code; or
(5) the structure is located in an area declared under
an Emergency Declaration or Major Disaster Declaration
under the federal Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act. The declaration must be no older
than 3 years at the time of application.

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(b) The annual aggregate authorization of $15,000,000 set
forth in subsection (a) shall be allocated by the Division, in
such proportion as determined by the Director twice in each
calendar year that the program is in effect, provided that the
amount initially allocated by the Division for the first
calendar year application period shall not exceed 65% of the
total amount available for allocation. Any unallocated amount
remaining as of the end of the second application period of a
given calendar year shall be rolled over and added to the total
authorized amount for the next available calendar year. The
qualified rehabilitation plan must meet a readiness test, as
defined by the Division, in order for the application to
qualify. In any given application period, applications that
qualify under this Act will be prioritized as set forth in
subsection (a) and placed in a queue based on the date and time
the application is received. Applicants whose applications
qualify but do not receive an allocation must reapply to be
considered in subsequent application periods.
(c) Subject to appropriation to the Division, moneys in
the Historic Property Administrative Fund shall be used, on a
biennial basis, beginning at the end of the second fiscal year
after the effective date of this Act, to hire a qualified third
party to prepare a biennial report to assess the overall
impact of this Act from the qualified rehabilitation plans
under this Act completed in that year and in previous years.
Baseline data of the metrics in the report shall be collected

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at the initiation of a qualified rehabilitation plan. The
overall economic impact shall include at least:
(1) the number of applications, project locations, and
proposed use of qualified historic structures;
(2) the amount of credits awarded and the number and
location of projects receiving credit allocations;
(3) the status of ongoing projects and projected
qualifying expenditures for ongoing projects;
(4) for completed projects, the total amount of
qualifying rehabilitation expenditures and non-qualifying
expenditures, the number of housing units created and the
number of housing units that qualify as affordable, and
the total square footage rehabilitated and developed;
(5) direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts;
(6) temporary, permanent, and construction jobs
created; and
(7) sales, income, and property tax generation before
construction, during construction, and after completion.
The report to the General Assembly shall be filed with the
Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the
Senate in electronic form only, in the manner that the Clerk
and the Secretary shall direct.
(d) Any time prior to issuance of a tax credit
certificate, the Director of the Division, the State Historic
Preservation Officer, or staff of the Division may, upon
reasonable notice of not less than 3 business days, conduct a

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site visit to the project to inspect and evaluate the project.
(e) Any time prior to the issuance of a tax credit
certificate, the Director may, upon reasonable notice of not
less than 30 calendar days, request a status report from the
Applicant consisting of information and updates relevant to
the status of the project. Status reports shall not be
requested more than twice yearly.
(f) In order to demonstrate sufficient evidence of
reviewable progress within 12 months after the date the
Applicant received notification of allocation from the
Division, the Director may require the Applicant to provide
all of the following:
(1) a viable financial plan which demonstrates by way
of an executed agreement that all financing has been
secured for the project; such financing shall include, but
not be limited to, equity investment as demonstrated by
letters of commitment from the owner of the property,
investment partners, and equity investors;
(2) (blank); and
(3) all historic approvals, including all federal and
State rehabilitation documents required by the Division.
The Director shall review the submitted evidence and may
request additional documentation from the Applicant if
necessary. The Applicant will have 30 calendar days to provide
the information requested, otherwise the allocation may be
rescinded at the discretion of the Director.

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(g) In order to demonstrate sufficient evidence of
reviewable progress within 24 months after the date the
application received notification of approval from the
Division, the Director may require the Applicant to provide
detailed evidence that the Applicant has secured and closed on
financing for the complete scope of rehabilitation for the
project. To demonstrate evidence that the Applicant has
secured and closed on financing, the Applicant will need to
provide signed and processed loan agreements, bank financing
documents or other legal and contractual evidence to
demonstrate that adequate financing is available to complete
the project. The Director shall review the submitted evidence
and may request additional documentation from the Applicant if
necessary. The Applicant will have 30 calendar days to provide
the information requested, otherwise the allocation may be
rescinded at the discretion of the Director.
If the Applicant fails to document reviewable progress
within 24 months of approval, the Director may notify the
Applicant that the allocation is rescinded. However, should
financing and construction be imminent, the Director may elect
to grant the Applicant no more than 5 months to close on
financing and commence construction. If the Applicant fails to
meet these conditions in the required timeframe, the Director
shall notify the Applicant that the allocation is rescinded.
Any such rescinded allocation shall be added to the aggregate
amount of credits available for allocation for the year in

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which the forfeiture occurred.
The amount of the qualified expenditures identified in the
qualified taxpayer's certification of completion and reflected
on the Historic Preservation Tax Credit certificate issued by
the Director is subject to inspection, examination, and audit
by the Department of Revenue.
The qualified taxpayer shall establish and maintain for a
period of 4 years following the effective date on a project tax
credit certificate such records as required by the Director.
Such records include, but are not limited to, records
documenting project expenditures and compliance with the U.S.
Secretary of the Interior's Standards. The qualified taxpayer
shall make such records available for review and verification
by the Director, the State Historic Preservation Officer, the
Department of Revenue, or appropriate staff, as well as other
appropriate State agencies. In the event the Director
determines an Applicant has submitted a status report
containing erroneous information or data not supported by
records established and maintained under this Act, the
Director may, after providing notice, require the Applicant to
resubmit corrected reports.
(Source: P.A. 102-741, eff. 5-6-22; 103-9, eff. 6-7-23.)