MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Historic Properties Tax Abatement/Exemption program is a new way Rutherford County is hoping to preserve what makes their county unique.
As the first program of its kind in Tennessee, Rutherford hopes to fight the idea of "out with the old, in with the new" by provide an incentive to those who purchase historic properties.
That incentive? Property tax breaks.
These tax breaks will be applied to residential, commercial and industrial properties.
For a qualified property, a partial restoration could earn a ten year abatement of property taxes while a total restoration would earn a fifteen year abatement on the improvements made to the property.
The program is transferable to successive owners as well.
Rutherford County is urging other counties in Tennessee to consider their program and to emulate it in their own communities in order to preserve the history of the Volunteer State as a whole.
