Timothy Geithner discusses tax incentives in Durham

DURHAM — U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with local leaders Thursday to discuss the expansion of a tax incentive encouraging private investment in struggling communities.

Geithner toured local, small businesses financed by the New Markets Tax Credit program and participated in a roundtable discussion about loosening the rules surrounding who is eligible for the tax credit.

The New Markets Tax Credit program is designed to give low-income communities greater access to private capital.

The Treasury Department offers tax incentives to people who invest in community development projects.

“Investment is like oxygen,” Geithner said. “Credit is like oxygen.”

He was joined by U.S. Reps. Brad Miller and David Price, both local Democrats.

Geithner emphasized the importance of efforts such as the New Markets Tax Credit to support small businesses because of their ability to create jobs.

He also said that $1 in tax revenue lost due to the credit created $12 in private investment.

Geithner said President Barack Obama is committed to expanding funding for the program. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act already pumped more money into it last year.

Obama’s proposed budget for next year contains a provision to expand the program by an additional $5 billion in 2010-11.

Randy Chambers, chief financial officer for Self-Help, a nonprofit community development agency, said he supported extending the credit so more investors would be eligible.

Chambers said his organization — which has benefited from the tax credit program ­­­— was the first private investment “this side of downtown” Durham.

He said the building that the company renovated had been abandoned for years. It now employs hundreds of Durham residents, he said.

Ray Moncrief, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, said the program helped his company invest in community projects in the Appalachian region, including a small hospital and local college.

“Communities like this will be the engine of renewal in this country,” Geithner said.



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