County staff requested and the Clay County Board of Commissioners on June 24 approved a request to allocate the IRS 179D energy-efficiency commercial buildings deduction to the project’s architect for the DMV facility.

A county presenter described the deduction as a tax incentive for qualifying energy improvements in new construction or remodel projects and said the allocation would be submitted on behalf of Klein/Clyde McCarthy Architects (transcript contains both spellings). County staff estimated the deduction at roughly $6,293, with a $3,000 fee for the application process, leaving an estimated net benefit of about $3,283 for the architect after application fees. A contractor previously approached as a potential co-applicant declined, staff said; the application will therefore be filed solely on the architect’s behalf.

Commissioner Abinger moved to approve the request and authorize county staff to execute the necessary documentation; Commissioner Behr seconded the motion, which passed by voice vote.

Why it matters: the county’s action allows the project designer to claim federal tax benefits for energy-efficiency measures in the DMV facility. The county, as a government entity, cannot claim the deduction itself but can allocate the deduction to the project’s designer per IRS rules.