By Judy Sheahan
October 18, 2004

The final version of the corporate tax bill awaiting President Bush's signature contains provisions that the Conference of Mayors has been advocating. These include exempting Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) to tax-exempt investors who clean up and remediate brownfields and a "green buildings bond" provision for brownfields.

The bill provides an exemption for not-for-profit corporations from a federal tax on unrelated business income that invest in qualified brownfield sites. According to the Internal Revenue Service, unrelated business income is income generated by a business activity that is not substantially related to the purpose of the organization. Tax-exempt entities hold over $6 trillion in capital. Conference President Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic spoke recently at the Brownfields 2004 conference in St. Louis about the need to encourage more of this money to be used for brownfields redevelopment.

The bill also authorizes the issuance of tax-exempt facility bonds (up to $2 billion) for green building and sustainable design projects that are designated by the secretary. The projects must include the following:

1) register at least 75 percent of the square footage of the structures to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design;

2) include a brownfield site;

3) identify other state or local contributions to the project;

4) include at least 1 million square feet of building or 20 acres of land; and

5) provide at least 1,500 full time jobs (150 jobs in rural states) when completed and at least 1,000 full time jobs (100 jobs in rural states) during construction.