Delaware Administrative Code
Title 1 - Authorities, Boards and Commissions
900 - Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
901 - Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program
Section 901-3.0 - Definitions
The following words and terms, when used in this regulation, shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Act" means the "Historic Preservation Tax Credit Act", under 30 Del.C. Ch. 18, Subch. II.
"Application" means the Delaware Historic Preservation Tax Credit application that shall consist of four parts, as follows: the Request for Certification of Historic Property (Part 1); the Request for Certification of Rehabilitation (Part 2); the Request for Certificate of Completion (Part 3), and the Request for Credit Award.
"Building" means created principally to shelter any form of human activity.
"Certification of Completion", or "Certificate of Completion" means the certificate issued by the Delaware State Historic Preservation Officer attesting that the certified rehabilitation, or, if applicable, a phase of the certified rehabilitation project, has been completed, and that the documentation of qualified expenditures and project plans that would be required in order to qualify for tax credits under Section 47 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 USC 47) (whether or not the project would be eligible for the federal tax credit) has been obtained.
"Certified historic property" means a property located within the State of Delaware that is:
| * | individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places; or |
| * | located in a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places and certified by the United States Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historic significance of that district; or |
| * | individually designated as a historic property by local ordinance and certified by the State Office as meeting the criteria for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places; or |
| * | located in a historic district set apart or registered by a local government, which historic district is certified by the State Office as meeting the criteria for inclusion in the National Register and which property contributes to the historic significance of the historic district. |
"Certified rehabilitation" means rehabilitation of a certified historic property, or portion of the property, that has been certified by the Delaware State Historic Preservation Officer as a substantial rehabilitation, and is in conformance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation ( 36 CFR 67) or other standards as the State Office shall from time to time adopt.
"Credit award" means the amount of qualified expenditures as determined by the State Office multiplied by the appropriate percentage as determined in 30 Del.C. § 1813.
"Delaware State Historic Preservation Officer" means the person designated and appointed in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (54 USC § 302301(1)). The Delaware State Historic Preservation Officer is an appointed position held by the Director, Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.
"Downtown Development District" or "DDD" means an area within a municipality or unincorporated area designated by the governor as a Downtown Development District under 79 Del. Laws c. 240.
"Federal tax credit" means the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit as defined in the United States Tax Code, Title 26, Subtitle A, Chapter 1, Subchapter A, Part IV, Subpart E, Section 47 (26 USC 47).
"Fiscal Year" means the State of Delaware's fiscal year.
"National Register of Historic Places" or "National Register" means the National Register of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture that the United States Secretary of the Interior is authorized to expand and maintain pursuant to Section 302101 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (54 USC § 300101 et seq.).
"Office" or "State Office" means the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office, which is a part of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.
"Owner-occupied historic property" means a certified historic property, or portion of the property, which is owned by the applicant and is being used, or within a reasonable period will be used, by an applicant as the applicant's principal residence. The property may consist of part of a multiple dwelling or multiple purpose building or series of buildings, including a cooperative or condominium. If only a portion of a building is used as the principal residence, only those qualified expenditures that are properly allocable to that portion shall be eligible under this subchapter to apply for tax credits calculated at the percentage available to owner-occupants.
"Person" or "applicant" means an individual; any form of company or corporation which is lawful within the State of Delaware (including limited liability companies and S corporations) whether or not for profit; any form of partnership which is lawful within the State of Delaware (including limited liability partnerships) whether or not for profit; any trust or estate; and any lawful joint venture. "Person" or "applicant" shall also mean a non-state governmental entity; or a pass-through entity or person under a lease contract for five years or longer.
"Phased rehabilitation" means a certified rehabilitation of a certified historic property reasonably expected to be completed in two or more distinct stages of development as more fully described in Treasury Regulation 1-48-12(b)(v) or a successor provision.
"Property" means real estate and shall include any building which meets the definition in this section, including multiple-unit buildings.
"Qualified expenditure" means an amount properly expended by a person for the certified rehabilitation of a certified historic property, but shall not include:
| * | acquisition of real property or acquiring an interest in real property, or costs associated with the acquisition of the property; |
| * | additions to an existing structure except where the combined square footage of all additions is 20% or less than the total square footage of the historic portion of the property and each addition is approved by the Delaware State Historic Preservation Officer, pursuant to federal guidelines, as: preserving the character-defining features of the certified historic property, adequately differentiating the new construction from the existing structure, and complying with requirements regarding safety and accessibility in a manner reasonably designed to minimize any adverse impact on the certified historic property; |
| * | sitework, paving or landscaping costs in excess of 10% of the total qualified expenditures; |
| * | sales and marketing costs; or |
| * | an expenditure not properly charged to a capital account, including, in the case of owner-occupied property, an expenditure that would not properly be charged to a capital account where the person using such property is in a trade or business. |
"Reasonable period" means that an owner shall occupy the rehabilitated property as their principal residence within six months of the issuance of the Certificate of Completion. The State Office, in its sole discretion, may offer one extension, not to exceed three months, for cause.
"Resident Curator" means a person who has entered into a contractual agreement with the owner of a certified property in which the person agrees to pay for full restoration of the owner's property in exchange for a life tenancy in the property without remunerative compensation to the owner for the life tenancy.
"Substantial rehabilitation" or "full restoration" means rehabilitation of a certified historic property for which the qualified expenditures exceeds:
| * | for an income-producing property, the current standard required by Section 47(c)(1)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 USC 47(c)(1)(C)); and |
| * | for an owner-occupied historic property, non-income producing property, or property under contract with a resident curator, a minimum expenditure of $5,000. |
"Taxpayer" means a person, as defined in this section, and shall include an individual or corporation taxable under Title 5, or taxable under either 30 Del.C. Ch. 11, or 30 Del.C. Ch. 19.
