Tax breaks for owners of "historic" properties are coming under scrutiny from Durham's City Council and Board of County Commissioners.
With new candidates for "historic" status nominated every year, the number is mounting up and so is the hit to the city's and county's revenue. For the county, the amount is about $42,000 per year, commissioner Becky Heron said during the commissioners' meeting tonight.
“As historic properties build up in your community," commissioner Ellen Reckhow said, "it’s taking a lot of value off the tax books.”
The commissioners approved a set of tightened standards for "historic" nomination tonight, and the council holds a public hearing on the same proposal Monday. But both council members and commissioners are calling for a review of the whole program, adopted years ago to encourage historic preservation.
"We could have hundreds of these houses," Councilman Eugene Brown said during last week's council work session. "There has to be some limitation placed on this program, in my judgment."
