Like hazard mitigation planning, disaster response and recovery requires a different approach to historic
properties. Local governments and partner organizations can prepare ahead and, in responding to an event,
ensure that activities are undertaken such as: sorting debris to store historic building components for
salvage, requesting assistance from the Maryland Historical Trust to help with post-disaster assessment of
historic buildings, and disseminating information on how to properly treat a historic building after a
disaster. MHT has outlined its approach to disaster response and recovery in Chapter 2 of its
Flood Mitigation
Guide: Maryland's Historic Buildings. Additional resources can be found below.
Resources for Historic Properties Impacted by a Natural Disaster
These fact sheets have been developed by the Maryland Historical Trust to assist property
owners/occupants dealing with historic resources damaged by a natural disaster.
Maryland Historic Revitalization Tax Credit Program
State and federal preservation tax incentives are a tool that may be used to assist owners
of certified historic properties as they undertake rehabilitation projects following a
natural disaster.
Whether you are planning to rehabilitate your primary or secondary residence or a commercial
property, you may have the opportunity to earn a state income tax credit on qualified
rehabilitation expenditures. Please note that tax credits are awarded based
on the eligible rehabilitation costs of completed projects and therefore do not provide
any upfront financial assistance for the project.
While participation in the tax credit program requires prior approval
of work, we encourage anyone who has experienced damage to their historic buildings to contact
our staff by telephone or email to gain information on ways we might be of assistance in the
expedition of approvals or streamlining of our review process for emergency work. Appropriate
staff contact information for the programs, depending on property types, may be found in the
links below.
In addition, if you have an open tax credit application, but experience damage to your property,
you should contact appropriate staff for guidance even if you expect all damage to be covered
by insurance.
Grants
If your property was impacted by a disaster, you may be eligible to apply
for African American Heritage Preservation Program or Maryland Heritage Area
Authority funds outside the normal grant cycle. Funds for an eligible
project could be available within months of the submission of an application. For
more information, please see:
The Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program is not
offering emergency grants at the present time. Please check the program web page for updates
on availabilityof funding.
Links to Other Resources
