What Is the Mills Act?

We received a great question recently from one of our clients.  The question is, “What is the Mills Act and what does it do?”

The Mills Act is a government program that incentivizes those who own historic homes to keep up the preservation of those homes. They incentivize these homeowners through a discounted rate on their property taxes. For example, we have a client in Upland who saves 60% on his property taxes annually through this program.

How can you find out if a home qualifies? First, you need to know if the city you are living in is Mills Act-approved. If it is, you’ll then need to check with your local building and zoning committees to see if your home has the historical monument classification and is within the historic preservation ordinance zone.

What if you find out your home isn’t Mills Act-approved even though you think it should be? You’ll need to go to your local planning committee or historical preservation society and petition them as to why this is an important program to bring value to the city and preserve historic homes. When these homes have lower taxes, they have more value and add more value to the neighborhood overall.

If you have any other questions for us or need any help buying or selling a home, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.