What does this mean?
- Property owners can receive a tax assessment value freeze at the pre-rehabilitation rate, established for a time period ranging from 5 – 20 years, when a certified historic rehabilitation activity is conducted and minimum investment thresholds have been met on a designated historic structure.
- Per Statute, County Council possesses the discretion to establish a process and criteria to designate historic structures, define the duration of the assessment freeze, and determine minimum investment thresholds to qualify certified rehabilitation activities.
- The South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH) is the designated “reviewing authority” tasked with reviewing and certifying rehabilitation activities.
How does this work?
- The special property tax assessment shall apply to the building or structure that is rehabilitated, the real property on which the building is located, and additional real property surrounding the building or structure that has been determined significant to the historic character of the building by the local governing body.
- The special assessment shall not apply to rehabilitation expenses on buildings or structures that are not historic.
- Applicable to owner-occupied and income-producing properties.
What structures are eligible?
- The following categories of property may be designated historic by the local governing body:
- Properties listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places;
- Properties that contribute to an individual property or historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places; and/or
- Properties fifty or more years old that meet the local governing body’s criteria for designation; categories of significance for the criteria may include, but are not limited, to the following:
- Architecture, Culture, Engineering, and History
What is a certified rehabilitation activity?
- A rehabilitation activity that brings qualified building(s) to a state of utility, through repair or alteration, which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions and features of the building(s) that are significant to its historic, architectural, and cultural values.
- Rehabilitation costs meet the Minimum Expenditures for Rehabilitation established by the local government (ranging from 20% – 100% of a building’s Fair Market Value)
Who is the Reviewing Authority?
- In the absence of a Board of Architectural Review (BAR), the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH) will serve as the reviewing authority, reviewing proposed rehabilitation activities, certifying their eligibility, and certifying their completion based on defined “Standards for Rehabilitation” established in SC Code of State Regulations, Sections 12-120 through 12-125.
What are eligible expenses?
- The actual costs of rehabilitation relating to one or more of the following:
- Improvements located on or within the historic building as designated;
- Improvements outside of but directly attached to the historic building which are necessary to make the building fully useable, but shall not include new construction of rentable/habitable floor space;
- Architectural and engineering services attributable to the design of the improvements; or
- Costs necessary to maintain the historic character or integrity of the building.
What expenses are not eligible?
- New construction of usable floor space;
- The costs of ancillary equipment not necessary for the structure’s habitability (i.e. commercial grade kitchen equipment); and
- Site work not necessary to maintain the structure’s historic character or integrity.
What are the investment thresholds and assessed value freeze duration?
- Special Assessment Period. Unless otherwise specified by County Council, the Special Assessment period shall be staggered based on the Minimum Expenditures for Rehabilitation contemplated in the Preliminary Certification application and verified upon Final Certification as established below:
- A minimum investment of 20% – 29.99% of the fair market value of the structure which is to be rehabilitated qualifies the Property Owner(s) for a Special Assessment period of five (5) years.
- A minimum investment of 30% – 49.99% of the fair market value of the structure which is to be rehabilitated qualifies the Property Owner(s) for a Special Assessment period of ten (10) years.
- A minimum investment of 50% – 74.99% of the fair market value of the structure which is to be rehabilitated qualifies the Property Owner(s) for a Special Assessment period of fifteen (15) years.
- A minimum investment of at least 75% of the fair market value of the structure which is to be rehabilitated qualifies the Property Owner(s) for a Special Assessment period of twenty (20) years.
Additional Considerations:
- The freeze cannot be applied retroactively.
- The freeze can be rescinded if there are alterations or renovations made by the owner that cause the property to no longer possess the qualities and features which made it eligible for the freeze.
- Under no circumstances shall the sale or transfer of ownership disqualify the property from receiving the special property tax assessment.
Please contact the Planning and Zoning Department for additional information!
