Maryland's Green Building Tax Credit Extension Fails

ANNAPOLIS, MD-Maryland’s developers were disappointed, but hardly surprised, when the state’s legislative session ended last week without funding the Maryland Green Building Tax Credit. Indeed the tax credit program had run out of funding at the end of 2005, Michael Li, assistant director in Maryland’s Energy Administration, tells GlobeSt.com.

“It was doubtful it was going to pass this session to be frank,” he says. “There was talk of the structural deficit the state is facing and of the importance of not reducing revenue or increasing spending by any large amount.”

The session did pass a bill, though, that will create a Maryland Green Building Council, he adds. The council will identify opportunities to promote green buildings. However, it is not a financial incentive, which is most important to developers–especially those building their first green projects when costs are typically the highest, at least until the learning curve is mastered.