We had some hot weather last week; I don’t know about you but when I think about the heat, I think about water, when I think about water, I think about the drought, and when I think about the drought, I think of other natural disasters like earthquakes. The Los Angeles Times revisited the earthquake/retrofitting issue this week and the devastating liability that could be imposed upon the city if people die as a result of shoddy housing and buildings. At the Tuesday, May 6 meeting, Council adopted forthwith a motion in support of AB 1510 (Nazarian) that would allow, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, a tax credit under both laws in an amount equal to 30% of the qualified costs paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer for any seismic retrofit construction on a qualified building, as defined. According to the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) representative, qualified buildings and homes include condos and apartments; at this time it’s unclear whether mixed-use developments would qualify. The bill defines ‘seismic retrofit construction’ as changes or additions to the structure of a qualified building to mitigate seismic damage, including: (i) Anchoring the structure to the foundation. (ii) Bracing cripple walls. (iii) Bracing hot water heaters. (iv) Installing automatic gas shutoff valves. (v) Repairing or reinforcing the foundation to improve the integrity of the foundation against seismic damage. (vi) Anchoring fuel storage. (vii) Installing an earthquake-resistant bracing system for mobile homes that is certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. *Seismic retrofit construction does not include construction activities performed solely to bring a qualified building into compliance with standard local building codes. From what I understand, the California Franchise Tax Board would verify the retrofitting repairs from the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. We all know how efficiently our city departments are with projects like this, I mean we’re so busy we never got around to actually spend $10 million allocated for sidewalk repairs. Positively identifying the buildings that are in need for retrofitting is going to be a momentous task in itself. I’m in favor of the bill, I’m just curious as to what it will mean for motions I previously introduced concerning retrofitting older concrete buildings. You can see the motions here and here. Any incentive we can provide to property owners towards retrofitting buildings is essential. Earlier this year, I spoke with Anna Ortega of the Housing Department who introduced me to a little-known process property owners can employ to retrieve money from renters (pass-thrus) for retrofitting known as ‘rehabilitation’. Rehabilitation is defined as work that is imposed or mandated or done due to change in the Citys Building Code, 100% pass thru capped at $75.00 per month for a 60 month period (the collection period can be extended to recover the full amount). With a tax credit, plus the ability to pass the cost on to tenants, there should be no excuses as to why a building isn’t retrofitted in the city. The onus is on the city to mandate that all buildings be retrofitted and property owners to then follow suit to ensure their buildings are safe. It’s not just the loss of life that could be costly in a major earthquake. The families of women killed in a 2003 magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Paso Robles sued property owners of the buildings that crushed their loved ones and were awarded $2 million. We’re a sue-happy state- I think you know how this story will end if we aren’t prepared in time for a major earthquake.
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 00:20:00 +0000
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