Dear Editor,
The article about a possible National Register Historic District
downtown (June 27, page 1) was informative and encouraging.
Dear Editor,
The article about a possible National Register Historic District downtown (June 27, page 1) was informative and encouraging.
The economic incentives cited for historic property owners are a complex subject. To clarify, the property tax reduction provided by the Mills Act is of greater benefit to those who have purchased their building recently and thus pay higher property taxes. Federal income tax credits are more helpful to those who have owned their building longer and thus have a lower cost basis.
The Gilroy Historical Society, the Gilroy Downtown Association and the City of Gilroy co-sponsored a workshop for property owners on April 25.
We are trying to ascertain how much interest there is in the possibility of getting on the National Register so that all historic building owners within the downtown district could be eligible for the federal income tax credits. Property owners may contact any one of us or Larry Cope of the Economic Development Corporation for more information.
Architecturally speaking Gilroy has a great downtown, with about 45 buildings ranking high enough to qualify for the Mills Act. Downtown Gilroy could be like Los Gatos, Healdsburg or Pleasanton if property owners and the rest of us do the right thing!
Connie Rogers, Gilroy
