Financial Incentives & Funding Opportunities
Financial incentives fall into four major categories: federal and state rehabilitation tax credits, local incentives, low-interest loans, and grants. Of these categories, grants are generally only made to non-profit and government entities. Only at the local level are grants generally made to private, for-profit property owners.
Federal Historic Tax Credit Program: The National Park Service and the Internal Revenue Service administer the 20% Federal Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit program in partnership with State Historic Preservation Offices.
Since 1976, the program has encouraged private sector investment in the rehabilitation and re-use of historic buildings that are income-producing and determined eligible by the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, to be “certified historic structures.” Certified historic structures are buildings that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places individually or as a contributing resource in a historic district.
The State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service review the rehabilitation work to ensure that it complies with the Secretary’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program: The Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program (OHPTC), administered by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), provides an up to 25% tax credit of qualified rehabilitation expenditures up to $5 million to leverage the private redevelopment of historic buildings that are income producing. This is a competitive program that receives applications bi-annually in March and September.
While the ODOD administers the competitive evaluation process and makes final selection decisions on state applications, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) reviews the historic rehabilitation component (Parts 1 & 2, also known as Section B—rehabilitation information) of these applications to determine whether the building is a “historic building” and if proposed and completed work complies with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. For the Ohio Historic tax credit, buildings that are only listed locally within a Certified Local Government are eligible in addition to those properties listed individually or as a contributing resource in a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
Kentucky Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program: The Kentucky Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program is a partnership through the Kentucky Heritage Council and the Kentucky Department of Revenue. The Historic Tax Credits provides
- up to a 30% tax credit for owner-occupied residential qualified rehabilitation expenses.
- up to 20% tax credit for non-profit or tax-exempt qualified rehabilitation expenses.
- up to 20% tax credit for income-producing properties qualified rehabilitation expenses.
As of 2023, each fiscal year the Kentucky Heritage Council has $100 million to allocate for Rehabilitation Tax Credit Projects. All projects that qualify will get a tax credit. If there are more requests than there is funding for, the tax credit is apportioned equally which means the final tax credit awarded to each project may be less than the eligible percentage.
For the Kentucky Historic tax credit, buildings, structures and objects must be listed individually or as a contributing resource in a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
Federal grants are distributed by the federal government. These grants are generally open and competitive on a national scale, unless otherwise specified. There are several agencies that support historic preservation initiatives. Below are the agencies and links to their grants.
- National Park Service: Historic Preservation at the national level is housed primarily within the National Park Service. NPS manages several grant programs to assist with a variety of historic preservation and community projects focused on heritage preservation.
- African American Civil Rights Grant documents, interprets, and preserves sites and stories related to the African American struggle to gain equal rights as citizens
- Save America’s Treasures grant program was established in 1998 to celebrate America’s premier cultural resources in the new millennium. Must be listed in the National Register for National Significant or a National Historic Landmark.
- History of Equal Rights grant program preserves sites related to the struggle for any or all people to achieve equal rights in America.
- Underrepresented Communities Grant program works towards diversifying the nominations submitted to the National Register of Historic Places.
- National Endowment for the Humanities: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States.
- Cultural and Community Resilience Grant program supports community-based efforts to address the impacts of climate change and COVID-19 by safeguarding cultural resources and fostering cultural resilience through identifying, documenting, and/or collecting cultural heritage and community experiences.
State grants are distributed by state governments.
State grants can sometimes be pass-through grants—meaning that the federal government passed funds to individual states to distribute through a competitive process.
State funds can also be allocated for specific purposes by state legislatures.
Below is a list of grants that can be used for historic preservation in the Cincinnati Preservation Service Area.
- Ohio History Fund Grant supports the preservation and sharing of Ohio’s heritage by funding local, regional, and statewide projects, programs, and events related to the broad sweep of the state’s history and pre-history. The Ohio History Fund is a competitive matching grants program.
- Certified Local Government (CLG)Grants are awarded each year to assist in completing preservation projects on a competitive basis. Applicants must be Certified Local Governments.
- Ohio Humanities’ grant program has sparked critical public humanities work throughout our state. By funding engaging programs that center the humanities, Ohio Humanities helps inspire conversations about our state’s shared histories and cultures.
There are two types of foundations—public and private. Private foundations acquire their funds from individuals, families, or corporations. Public foundations amass money through fundraising and often receive donations from a variety of sources.
- National Trust for Historic Preservation Grant Programs awards grants to nonprofit organizations and public agencies, and the majority of our funding is awarded for planning and education projects.
- Linda and Jerry Bruckheimer Preservation Fund for Kentucky supports the preservation of historic buildings, communities and landscapes in the state of Kentucky
- Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors assists in the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of historic interiors.
- Hart Family Fund for Small Towns encourage preservation at the local level by providing seed money for preservation projects in small towns with populations of 10,000 or less.
- Johanna Favrot Fund aims to save historic environments in order to foster an appreciation of our nation’s diverse cultural heritage and to preserve and revitalize the livability of the nation’s communities.
- Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant awardees to 50 small or independently owned restaurants across the country. Each restaurant—all places that contribute to their neighborhood’s unique history and identity—will receive $50,000 in funding to help them improve their businesses and positively impact their communities
- National Fund for Sacred Spaces is in collaboration for the Partners for Sacred Spaces. This fund provides technical and financial support for congregations, building their capacity and increasing the stability of these critical yet disappearing historic community centers
- African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund are designed to advance ongoing preservation activities for historic places such as sites, museums, and landscapes representing African American cultural heritage.
- Preserving Black Churches is intended to preserve historic Black houses of worship—either with active congregations and nonactive congregations—and advance ongoing preservation activities while strengthening capacity for historic congregations, and preservation and community organizations to steward, manage, and better utilize their historic structures
- Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Preservation Grants provide financial assistance for projects that preserve historic objects and sites.
- The Jeffris Family Foundation assists the development of historic sites for non-profit organizations in small towns and cities in the eight states of the Midwest: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.
Counties, townships and municipalities create incentives tailored to their communities and the needs they have. As they change depending on the funding and priorities we encourage you to visit their sites directly to understand the current incentives they have. Below are links to the business incentives for communities within the Cincinnati Preservation service area.
Counties, townships and municipalities create incentives tailored to their communities and the needs they have. As they change depending on the funding and priorities we encourage you to visit their sites directly to understand the current incentives they have. Below are links to the homeowner incentives for communities within the Cincinnati Preservation service area.