Public Assistance
Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities
A majority of brownfields is located in these federally designated areas. Under the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993, special tax incentives were created for businesses operating in these areas. Such incentives include an employer wage credit, property tax deductions and tax-exempt bonds for financing new developments.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF’s)
TIF’s are used extensively as an economic development tool to subsidize a redevelopment that will generate future streams of tax revenue.

Municipal Groundwater Ordinance
Applicable in the City of Chicago and various municipalities.
The ordinance is used as an institutional control to limit the groundwater pathway in risk-based cleanup objectives.

U.S. EPA Revolving Loan Fund
This low interest loan of up to a $1M can be accessed for a cleanup project on a brownfield redevelopment.

Brownfield Property Tax Incentives
An example in Cook County, Illinois, is the Cook County Class 6(c). The 6(c) is intended for contaminated or abandoned properties or contaminated vacant land that will be remediated and used for industrial purposes. The property receives a 16% assessment level for the first 10 years, 23% in year 11 and 30% in year 12, before returning to the full assessment level of 36% in year 13.

Historic Tax Preservation Credits
The 20% tax credit can be applied for land-marked historic buildings. The 10% tax credit can be applied for non-historic buildings constructed prior to 1936.