Roque Tudesqui House - Historic Santa Fe Foundation

potential impact of projects on National Register listed or eligible resources.
For the fIrst time limits were placed on the federal government's impact on
historic property. It is often not understood, however, that listing in the
Registers does not restrict the private treatment of property minus government
assistance.
The Act authorized matching grants-in-aid for historic preservation
to the states and to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, providing
funds for the first time for the rehabilitation of historic resources.
Also as a result of this legislation, the governor of each state was asked to
appoint a State Liaison Officer (now the State Historic Preservation Officer
or SHPO) to coordinate state preservation activities. Ultimately a
national framework of standards was created which today guides the documentation,
registering, and rehabilitation of historic properties. In 1969
the New Mexico Cultural Properties Act was passed by the state legislature.
In 1976 economic interests merged with preservation as never
before when the Tax Reform Act provided federal incentives for the rehabilitation
of income-producing property certified historic by the Secretary
of the Interior. These incentives were increased by the 1981 Economic
Recovery Tax Act and reduced but not eliminated by the Tax Reform Act
of 1986. Meanwhile, in 1984, the New Mexico legislature introduced its
own system of state tax credits, which include both income-producing
and non-income-producing properties that are listed on the State Register
of Cultural Properties. (Information on current state and federal rehabilitation
tax credits can be obtained from the State Historic Preservation
Division ofthe Office of Cultural Affairs and can be discussed in a future
column.)
Santa Fe's first historic district was created in 1957 under a local
ordinance that mandated the use of historic styles in remodeling and new
construction within its boundaries. The Historic Santa Fe Foundation was
founded and its plaquing program inaugurated in 1961, before the criteria
ofthe State and National Registers were adopted. Today the Foundation
generally follows these standards.
44