Montgomery County – High Performance Building Property Tax Credit

Program Overview

Implementing Sector Local
Category Financial Incentive
State Maryland
Incentive Type Property Tax Incentive
Web Site https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/finance/taxes/tax_credit_exempt.html#p19
Administrator Department of Finance
Start Date 03/17/2008
Eligible Renewable/Other Technologies Solar - Passive, Solar Water Heat, Solar Space Heat, Solar Photovoltaics, Wind (All), Biomass, Geothermal Heat Pumps, Daylighting, Wind (Small), Hydroelectric (Small)
Eligible Efficiency Technologies Custom/Others pending approval
Applicable Sectors Commercial, Industrial, Multifamily Residential
Incentive Amount 10% to 75% credit from property taxes owed on building for 3-5 years; varies by building type and building rating
Maximum Incentive
  • Total: $5 million per fiscal year limit for all buildings
  • Silver rating: $1.5 million per fiscal year
  • Gold rating: $2.5 million per fiscal year
Eligible System Size Building must meet minimum LEED standards (CS, NC, or EB) or equivalent to qualify

Summary

The state of Maryland permits local governments (Md Code: Property Tax § 9-242) to offer property tax credits for high performance buildings if they choose to do so. Montgomery County has exercised this option by offering property tax credits on new or extensively modified multi-family residential and commercial buildings that meet certain high performance building standards. An “extensive modification” is defined as a structural modification that alters 50% or more of the building’s square footage.

The tax credit generally uses the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system as a metric for determining how “green”‘ a building is, although buildings that achieve comparable ratings under other green building standards are also eligible for the tax credit. Tax credits are available for buildings that achieve minimum ratings under the LEED New Construction (NC); Core and Shell (CS); and Existing Building (EB).

The amount (10-75%) and term (3-5 years) of the tax credit varies based on the type project and the rating it achieves. See the table below for details. The term “covered” refers to new or substantially reconstructed non-residential and multi-family residential buildings over 10,000 square feet, which are already required by county law to meet the basic LEED certification standard or its equivalent. Thus the minimum standard for property tax credits on buildings of this type is correspondingly higher.

Building TypeCertification TypeExemption AmountTerm
CoveredLEED-NC or LEED-CS Platinum75%5 years
CoveredLEED-NC or LEED-CS Gold25%5 years
CoveredLEED-EB Platinum50%3 years
CoveredLEED-EB Gold10%3 years
Not CoveredLEED-NC or LEED-CS Platinum75%5 years
Not CoveredLEED-NC or LEED-CS Gold50%5 years
Not CoveredLEED-NC or LEED-CS Silver25%5 years
Not CoveredLEED-EB Platinum50%3 years
Not CoveredLEED-EB Gold25%3 years
Not CoveredLEED-EB Silver10%3 years

Property taxpayers must apply for the tax credit within one year after a building is certified as a high performance building. There is a limit of $5 million per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) on the total volume of tax credits granted, and limits of $1.5 million and $2.5 million for buildings rated LEED Silver and LEED Gold respectively. Credits in excess of these limits will be issued for the subsequent fiscal year or years.

 

Authorities

Name Montgomery County Code Sec. 52-18Q
Date Enacted 12/17/2007
Effective Date 03/17/2008

Contact

Organization:
Montgomery County Department of Finance
Address:
255 Rockville Pike, Suite L-15
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone:
(240) 777-8965
E-Mail: