2003 Adopted Resolutions
71st Annual Meeting
Denver

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EXEMPTING BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES FROM UNRELATED BUSINESS INCOME TAX

WHEREAS, the Nation's Mayors have documented the tremendous economic and social impact that the estimated half a million brownfield properties have had on their communities and have long recognized the importance of redeveloping brownfield properties as a catalyst for economic development, job creation, and neighborhood improvement; and

WHEREAS, the Small Business Liability and Brownfields Redevelopment Act of 2001 provides monies to do cleanup and assessments of brownfields sites and liability relief for innocent developers and municipalities; and

WHEREAS, the Conference Mayors recognizes that federal funding will not be enough to deal with the tremendous number of brownfield sites that exist in this country;

WHEREAS, the Conference of Mayors recognizes that additional resources, tools and programs are needed to encourage additional funding for economic and community redevelopment including the need to attract private sector investment; and

WHEREAS, currently, tax-exempt investors such as endowments, foundations, and pension funds can incur Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) by investing in brownfield investment funds; and

WHEREAS, Congress originally adopted UBIT to level the playing field in situations where tax-exempt organizations entered marketplaces occupied traditionally by taxable entities but which had the unintended effect of dissuading the largest private capital sources from investing in brownfield sites across America; and

WHEREAS, because these investors hold roughly 60 percent of the institutional capital in this country, the unintended consequence of UBIT has been to deprive brownfield sites of much-needed capital for remediation and redevelopment activities; and

WHEREAS, exempting these entities from UBIT will cost little to administer and have a de-minimus negative impact on tax revenues but should have a significant positive revenue impact for future years

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors hereby urges Congress to pass legislation that would exempt brownfield investments from incurring Unrelated Business Income Tax and thereby encouraging additional private sector investment for brownfield properties.