It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Sections 44-33.1-2, 44-33.1-3 and 44-33.1-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-33.1 entitled "Property Tax Relief - Historical Residences" are hereby amended to read as follows:

44-33.1-2. Definitions. -- As used in this chapter:

(1) "Certified maintenance or rehabilitation" means any maintenance or rehabilitation of a historic residence consistent with the historic character of that historic residence as determined in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the commission.

(2) "Commission" means the state historical preservation commission created pursuant to section 42-45-2.

(3) "Historic residence" means a historic residential structure which is not of a character subject to federal depreciation allowance pursuant to 26 U.S.C. section 167 or section 168 and is:

(i) Listed individually in the state register of historic places; or

(ii) Located in a district listed in the state register of historic places and certified by the commission as contributing to the historic character of that district; or

(iii) Located in a local historic district zone as designated by a city or town under section 45-24.1-1 and certified by the commission as contributing to the historic character of that historic district zone; or

(iv) Designated by a city or town as an individual structure subject to regulation by a historic district commission under section 45-24.1-1.

44-33.1-3. Income tax credit -- Certification -- Guidelines -- (a) Any taxpayer who files a state income tax return and owns a historic residence may claim an income tax credit of up to ten twenty percent (10%) (20%) of certified maintenance or rehabilitation costs.

(b) An owner shall make a preliminary application for certification of maintenance or rehabilitation costs for the tax credit to the commission. By applying for certification, the owner consents that the commission may have access to the historic residence for inspection at reasonable times to ensure that the maintenance or rehabilitation complies with guidelines as established by the commission.

(c) The commission shall establish a minimum dollar amount above which an owner must spend in order to qualify for the income tax credit.

(d) Upon completion of the maintenance or rehabilitation, the owner shall notify the commission, at which time the commission shall determine whether the maintenance or rehabilitation did or did not comply with the commission guidelines established under this chapter. At that time, the owner will provide the commission with documentation of the work performed and certify the costs incurred in the maintenance or rehabilitation.

(e) If the commission approves the maintenance or rehabilitation, the commission shall certify to the owner, in writing, that the maintenance or rehabilitation complied with the guidelines and the total amount of the tax credit based upon the owner's certification of costs. This certification form shall be filed by the owner with the owner's state income tax return when requesting the income tax credit.

44-33.1-4. Allocation of income tax credit -- (a) The income tax credit provided for in this chapter is taken in the year the certified maintenance or rehabilitation work is completed; provided, that first users shall take the tax credit during the calendar year in which the property is purchased. Unused portions of the income tax credit may be carried forward to succeeding years by the owner who received the income tax credit.

(b) The maximum income tax credit provided for in this chapter which may be taken in a single tax year is five hundred dollars ($500) in the years 1989 to 1994 and one thousand dollars ($1,000) beginning in the years 1995 to 2000 and two thousand dollars ($2,000) beginning in 2001 and thereafter.

(c) The income tax credit may only be claimed by the owner of the eligible historic residence. Alternatively, the income tax credit may be claimed by the first user of the maintained or rehabilitated historic residence, provided that the first user is the owner-occupant of the historic residence. If the taxpayer ceases to be the owner of the eligible historic residence or if the property ceases to be an eligible historic residence, any unused income tax credit is forfeited.

(d) In the event that there is multiple ownership of the historic residence, the credit will only be allowed to the owner(s) for whom the property is actually a residence. If the property for which the credit is claimed is the residence of some or all of the owners, the credit is allowed only to those owners who actually incurred the costs for maintenance or rehabilitation. In the event that multiple owners who are also residents all incurred costs for the same project, the credit is divided proportionally among those owners based on each owner's share of the actual costs.

(e) In the event that a historic residence contains a nondepreciable owner-occupied residential unit and not more than two (2) depreciable units also owned by the building's owner-occupant, the full value of the credit will be allowed for maintenance and rehabilitation costs incurred on the entire building. In the event that a historic building contains both nondepreciable owner-occupied residential units and three (3) or more rental units, that portion of maintenance or rehabilitation costs reasonably associated with owner occupied units which are historic residences as defined in this chapter may be used to claim a residential historic preservation tax credit.

SECTION 2. The title of Chapter 44-33.1 of the General Laws entitled "Property Tax Relief - Historical Residences" is hereby amended to read as follows:

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2001.