A set of tax credits cleared one more hurdle last week after approval from the Iowa Senate. The bill for new tax credits for grayfields and brownfields sites was passed during the final day of the Legislature last week. The Senate passed the bill 95-2.

“We were very pleased that we could get the policy on the books,” said Jay Byers of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, who has worked on the bill. “We will have a better way to readdress redevelopment.”

If the governor signs the bill, it could become law by July 1. Kurt Mumm, president of Ruhl & Ruhl’s Des Moines office, said the new tax credits are a step in the right direction. “There are always incentives for new buildings, but there isn’t really a program in place for older buildings,” he said. “There’s good property out there that needs assistance, and this looks like a program that is a step in the right direction.”

The proposed tax credits will ease the cost of development for grayfield and brownfield sites. Brownfield sites could receive credits equaling 24 to 30 percent of the taxpayer’s qualifying investment; and grayfield sites could receive credits equaling 12 to 15 percent of the taxpayer’s qualifying investment, with the level of credits depending upon the amount of green development involved in the project.

Byers said new language was passed after the Senate approval of the bill, which would cap the maximum amount of credits at $100,000 for an individual project in the first years.

Brownfield sites are defined in the bill as properties that are complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination; and grayfield sites, which need to meet an array of different requirements, are defined as properties that are 25 years or older and are vacant, obsolete or underutilized.