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During his campaign for mayor, Bob Buckhorn promised to work with the private sector to facilitate the use of federal New Markets Tax Credits to help hard-to-finance projects get the capital they needed. The tax credits were created in 2000 to give lenders an incentive to make loans to projects that otherwise might not be able to get traditional financing.
On Feb. 27, 2012, Buckhorn signed a letter on behalf of the Memphis-based development company, Development Services Group, or DSG, that is leading the effort to renovate Tampa's historic federal courthouse on Florida Avenue as a boutique hotel.
"We understand the many economic challenges present in the project and appreciate DSG's efforts to obtain an allocation of New Market Tax Credits as part of the 'capital stack' that will be necessary to make this project a reality,” Buckhorn said in the letter.
Buckhorn promised to work with developers to try to attract this form of financing for non-traditional projects, and he has done so on the federal courthouse renovation project. We rate this Promise Kept.
Interview with Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Feb. 28, 2012
Letter from Bob Buckhorn, Feb. 27, 2012
Tampa Bay Times, Tampa mayor selects team to transform historic federal courthouse into luxury hotel, Jan. 6, 2012, accessed March 27, 2012
Internal Revenue Service publication, "New Market Tax Credits,” accessed March 25, 2012