Governor Baker hails Community Investment Tax Credit as “an investment worth making”

From left: MACDC’s Joe Kriesberg, Michael Mooney of Nutter McClennan & Fish LLP, Tim Connelly of Brown Brothers Harriman, Greg Achten of Merrill Lynch, Susan Esper of Deloitte, Governor Charles Baker, United Way’s Mike Durkin and Bob Van Meter of LISC Boston.

Massachusetts Governor Charles Baker today joined top business leaders to speak about the Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) and its role in accelerating economic development through Community Development Corporations (CDCs) across the state. The informational session aimed to raise  awareness about the CITC and its benefit to both donors and communities, and was  hosted by LISC Boston, Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC) and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, with support from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development.

“The CITC program effectively builds public-private partnerships and is an investment worth making,” Governor Baker said this morning.  “CDCs are vital assets to the communities served.   They create momentum in places that desperately need it.”

The Community Investment Tax Credit is a relatively new tax credit (implemented in 2014) that offers individuals, corporations, and nonprofit institutions the opportunity to obtain a 50% Massachusetts state tax credit by donating to a certified Community Development Corporation (CDCs).  Donations can be made three ways: to United Way’s Community Partnership Fund, which supports CDCs across the Commonwealth, directly to participating CDCs, or to the two Community Support Organizations (Boston LISC and MACDC).

Over $4.7 million was generated for CDCs by the tax credit last year. The investments generated by the tax credit program support CDC work in the areas of affordable housing development, neighborhood revitalization, job training, business development, and other vital economic and community development projects.

According to the MACDC, in 2014 CDCs helped over 72,000 families with housing, jobs or other services, built or preserved 1,459 homes, and provided support to businesses that created or preserved 6,161 jobs. The CITC utilizes the tax credit incentive to leverage private contributions to seed innovation and amplify these efforts.

More photos from the event can be seen here.