Benefits Touted For Placing Main Street On Historic Register

Michelle Jones of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History looks over Water Valley’s Main Street with Mickey Howley, WVMSA Director. Jones was in town to tout the benefits of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. – Photo by Jack Gurner

By Jack Gurner
Reporter

WATER VALLEY – Local property owners who are doing substantial renovations could get tax credits of up to 45 percent by being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

And, being listed to the National Register does not diminish a property owners rights, according to Michelle Jones, Northern Director for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

“They can tear it down, it can burn. It doesn’t change what the individual owner’s rights are to that property,” she emphasized during a presentation last Wednesday at the Water Valley Main Street Association office.

Jones was in town at the invitation of the WVMSA to promote a better understanding of the National Register and to debunk some of the myths. Local officials are looking into the possibility of getting Water Valley’s Main Street on the register since it does appear to qualify.

Jones said that there are usually a small number of objections from those who don’t want the federal government to have any say over their property or they believe their property rights are going to be infringed upon.

She added that there is a gross misunderstanding of the difference between a local historic district and the National Register district. A local historic district is where a city adopts a policy of not allowing unauthorized changes to property. That is not the way the National Register works.

What it does is allow the individual owner who is making substantial renovations to take advantage a 20 percent tax credit from the federal government and a 25 percent credit from the state. But, to take the credits the owner does have to follow the Secretary of Interior’s standards.

Jones explained that in order to start the process a building-by-building survey would be needed. Along with providing needed information for the National Register process, the survey also helps the community better understand their history and build environment and why it’s important.

“There are no cons with the NR program,” she said.

Anyone wanting additional information can contact Mickey Howley of the WVMSA at 473-6767.