The Preservation Resource Center & partner organizations cannot fulfill their missions without vital federal incentives and grants!

Dear PRC supporters,

For over 40 years the PRC has used every tool available to promote the restoration and protection of New Orleans’ historic architecture and neighborhoods, allowing us to:

  • Provide critical home repairs to homeowners in need,
  • Restore vacant and blighted homes to stabilize neighborhoods, and
  • Promote the use of Historic Tax Credits and other financial incentives that are vital to Louisianas’ economic redevelopment.

The PRC and other organizations cannot continue in our missions without your help!

Last month, the White House released its Fiscal Year 18 budget blueprint, which calls for a staggering $6.7 billion cut in  Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs. In New Orleans alone, this means a loss of $11 million in Community Development Block Grants that will be completely eliminated and a loss of $3 million in HOME Investment Partnership Program funds. Further cuts will eliminate programs like AmeriCorps that provide service opportunities across Louisiana. This prioritized defunding will have a major effect on Louisiana nonprofits working to create affordable housing, assist homeowners with repairs to their homes, and rehabilitate blighted properties throughout the state.

Sign on to our petition!

What this means for the PRC:
  • Rebuilding Together New Orleans has completed over 1,400 home repair and community revitalization projects since 1988, allowing homeowners in need to remain in their homes through aging-in-place, energy-efficiency repairs, and deferred home maintenance projects. Our current funding, through HUD grants, will allow for only 15 completed projects this year. With these proposed cuts, that number could be cut in half.
  • All of RTNO’s projects utilize AmeriCorps members to reduce costs and leverage volunteers to stretch dollars further, and help us raise additional money through grant writing and capacity building. Over 200 AmeriCorps members have served with us in the last decade, and many were critical to helping us bring homeowners back to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. Plans to eliminate AmeriCorps will further diminish RTNO’s capacity, and will be a terrible loss for PRC.
  • Operation Comeback has rehabilitated 105 neglected and vacant structures since 1987 to reduce blight and encourage home-ownership in distressed neighborhoods. The proposed budget cuts could reduce Operation Comeback’s renovation capacity by roughly one-third.

 

PRC is at risk, but so is the health and growth of our entire state.

Along with the FY18 budget blueprint, Congress is expected to release a tax reform plan that could seriously jeopardize successful economic development and preservation incentives that have been transformational for Louisiana: the Historic Tax Credit (HTC), the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). These have increased economic development and housing opportunities across every community in our state. Yet we fear that President Trump and Speaker Ryan’s prioritized tax reform legislation package will follow the “A Better Way” blueprint, which does not include the continuation of these three vital credits.

New Orleans has seen incredible revitalization thanks to the utilization of these credits. So many cherished buildings have been returned to commerce thanks to these tax credits: theaters like the Saenger and Orpheum, hotels like the Ace and Catahoula, and countless other offices, restaurants and homes. Thanks to these credits, our city is enlivened and our economy soars. In Louisiana, between 2002 and 2015, the Federal Historic Tax Credit has:

  • Assisted in the completion of 691 historic rehabilitation projects totaling over $2.3 billion in development costs.
  • Created over 19,000 construction jobs and over 20,000 permanent jobs.
  • Generated over $1.20 in new tax revenue for every $1.00 of tax credit utilized. It pays for itself!

Last year, Louisiana was #1 in the nation in the number of HTC projects underway and #3 in number of qualifying projects. The HTC is being used throughout Louisiana to revitalize communities, from our smallest rural towns, to our historic Main Streets, to our largest cities. Now is a critical time for Louisiana to build on its successes, and we need the HTC to remain in place to do that.

 

Help us fight this double threat – HUD budget cuts and the elimination of tax incentive programs! Your voice matters; please sign our petition today and contact your members of Congress. We have provided a script below but please feel free to personalize your message. Your emails and calls to your legislators count!

 

Sign on to our petition here!

 

Call your member of congress – find your representative here
“Hi, my name is _______ and I am a resident of (your town, LA).  Federal programs critical to the well-being and economic prosperity of Louisiana towns and cities are threatened by the administration’s proposed FY 2018 budget and by tax reform.  Your leadership is needed to preserve HUD programs that are vital for addressing community need for housing and development.  Your leadership is also needed to preserve the Historic Tax Credit, which is a proven revitalization tool that more than pays for itself.  Please defend the Historic Tax Credit by cosponsoring the Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act (S. 425 and H.R. 1158).”

Senator Bill Cassidy (202) 224-5824

darien_flowers@cassidy.senate.gov, derek_theurer@cassidy.senate.gov

Senator John Kennedy (202) 224-4623

chris_stanley@kennedy.senate.gov, john_steitz@kennedy.senate.gov

Representative Steve Scalise, LA 1, (202) 225-3015

geoffrey.green@mail.house.gov, john.seale@mail.house.gov

Representative Cedric Richmond, LA 2, (202) 225-6636

joseph.lustig@mail.house.gov, peter.hunter@mail.house.gov

Representative Clay Higgins, LA 3, (202) 225-2031

ward.cormier@mail.house.gov, ward.cormier@mail.house.gov

Representative Mike Johnson, LA 4, (202) 225-2777

josh.hodges@mail.house.gov, brad.morris@mail.house.gov

Representative Ralph Abraham, LA 5, (202) 225-8490

patrick.barron@mail.house.gov, allen.cambon@mail.house.gov

Representative Garret Graves, LA 6, (202) 225-3901

 jennifer.bollinger@mail.house.gov