Ready for a Tax Break?

Fellow Eichler Network columnist Dave Weinstein opened a window to the benefits of California's valuable Mills Act tax-relief program recently through 'Protecting Fairglen's Eichlers,' a story focusing on a devoted group of San Jose homeowners who established new preservation benchmarks in their 1961-era Eichler neighborhood.

Weinstein followed that report with ‘How Historic Status Pays Off,’ showing how the Eichlers and their owners of Orange, in Southern California, have “gobbled up” Mills Act home-improvement financial incentives in a big way.

For those not familiar with the Mills Act, it's an important California state law that enables local governments to offer significant discounted property taxes to owners of qualified historic properties who agree to rehabilitate, restore, and maintain their homes.

Does the list of Eichler developments that qualify for Mills Act tax relief include yours? If not, let's explore how you and your mid-century modern home may be able to qualify for consideration in the future.

At this point in time, there are several Eichler developments that qualify for the Mills Act. They include the three Eichler subdivisions that have been added to the National Register of Historic Places—Palo Alto's Green Gables and Greenmeadow, both in 2005; and San Jose's Fairglen, in 2019.

Since the 218-home Fairglen was added to the Register, residents have "joined together to celebrate and preserve Fairglen's architectural heritage…by working with the city to establish both enforceable architectural and landscape regulations and advisory guidelines," Weinstein writes.

The Mills Act Program can be particularly helpful for recent buyers of historic properties who have made major improvements to their homes. Owners who've taken advantage of the program include David Edminster and his Eichler in the Balboa Highlands tract of Granada Hills.

"Other than our pool and landscape, we have done a few improvements since our initial restoration, so the tax break has been a windfall for us," says Edminster, whose Eichler has been beautifully restored.

"I do see some other work coming up," adds Edminster. "A fresh paint job and roof re-coating, which would easily exceed our annual Mills Act tax discounts."

Others in line to qualify for Mills Act relief are fellow Eichler owners in Edminster's Balboa Highlands, which was established as a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone in the City of Los Angeles in 2010; and the three Orange County tracts of Fairhaven, Fairhills, and Fairmeadow, local historic districts since 2018.