There are so many different ways to get your business in front of the consumer these days, but what about other companies? Here at the Asheville Home Builders Association we are working hard to help our members to become more involve with the Asheville HBA and with other member companies.
What are the different way that you can get involved?
Join a Committee
The committees of the Asheville Home Builders Association are the "backbone" of the organization. In order for the AHBA to effectively promote the home building industry and continue to provide outstanding services and support to the membership, your help as a member and industry professional is needed through volunteering for one of the AHBA Committees. Serving on any of these committees can provide you unique and valuable opportunities to network with industry peers, gain valuable exposure for you and your company, develop leadership skills and serve your industry, the association and your community. Volunteers of the AHBA Committees work together to bring new ideas and programs to the general membership. Want to learn more about each committee and how to sign up? Click here for a full description of the AHBA Committees.
Follow us on Social Media
Asheville Home Builders in on Twitter, Facebook, and now Linkedin. Join the conversation and see all the latest news and updates as they happen. There is no easier way to learn about what is new then by joining in the discussion!
Come to Networking Nights
Once a month the opportunity arises for Member Companies to attend events or meetings designed for industry professionals like yourself to connect with other AHBA members. All networking nights are free to members, and provide news and updates for in the Home Building Industry as well as valuable networking time. The next meeting will be held January 19th at the Doubletree in Biltmore Town Square.
Interested in other ways that you can become involved in the Asheville Home Builders? Visit our website to see all the ways the AHBA can help your business!
Clock Running Out on Extending Energy Tax Credits Expiring at Year’s End
Congress is unlikely to extend by the end of this year several tax incentives used by developers and remodelers that expire on Jan. 1.
The clock is running down on the New Energy Efficient Home Tax Credit (45L), the only federal incentive available for efficiency in new home construction. It provides a $2,000 tax credit to builders and developers for the construction and sale of homes that achieve a 50% improvement in energy efficiency over the 2004 International Energy Conservation Code.
Also nearing an end is the Existing Home Retrofit Tax Credit (25C), which provides consumers a tax credit of up to $500 for the purchase of qualifying energy-efficient products. Remodelers often leverage 25C tax incentives when working with clients.
NAHB is actively working to extend these tax credits.
Both 45L and 25C are traditionally renewed by Congress at the end of each year as part of a package of expiring tax credits.
Commonly referred to as “tax extenders,” this package has become more difficult to pass due to the government’s fiscal belt-tightening.
Because extending these tax credits would increase the deficit, Congress is required to offset the cost of the extension by either cutting spending or raising other taxes. Finding bipartisan “pay-for’s” has been difficult.
Last year, the credits were allowed to lapse for 11-1/2 months before Congress finally extended them retroactively for 2010 and until the end of 2011.
In addition to pushing for an extension, NAHB is working with a broad coalition of product manufacturers to modernize the 25C tax incentive.
In 2009 and 2010, Congress temporarily increased the 25C tax credit to allow taxpayers to claim 30% of the product cost — up to $1,500 — for installing eligible energy-saving retrofits in their homes.
These higher tax credits were involved in more than $25 billion of remodeling activity in 2009, which NAHB estimates was associated with over 276,000 jobs.
For 2011, 25C fell back to its pre-stimulus level of 10% of the installed costs, with a maximum credit for all qualified retrofits of $500. In addition, many products have lower thresholds, which have created confusion among taxpayers.
NAHB and its coalition partners are working with allies in the House and Senate to introduce legislation to increase the $500 cap to $1,000.
In addition, NAHB is proposing to eliminate the lower, individual product thresholds and permit taxpayers to claim labor costs for all qualifying products. For consumers, this would create a more robust — yet simpler — tax credit.
Although the tax extender package has been renewed before without controversy, taxpayers cannot assume that Congress will proceed as it has in the past.
While support in Congress remains high for extending these incentives and lawmakers have renewed these tax credits retroactively in the past, their fate remains in doubt as Congress wrestles with offsetting their costs.
Recognizing the uncertainty confronting small businesses and consumers, NAHB is continuing to urge lawmakers to extend these tax credits in a timely fashion.
For more information, email J.P. Delmore at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8412.
Congress Acts to Reduce Excessive Regulatory Burden on Small Businesses
Ongoing efforts by NAHB to reduce excessive regulatory burdens on small businesses produced results in Congress last week with the approval of two bills that would rein in and reduce the costs of new federal regulations.
In a victory for the nation’s home builders, the House on Dec. 2 voted 253 to 167 to approve H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011, which would modernize the 65-year-old Administrative Procedure Act to permit federal agencies to select the least costly options when writing new rules.
On Dec. 1, the House also approved the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (H.R. 527), companion legislation supported by NAHB stipulating that federal agencies must identify and reduce the costs of regulations on small businesses when determining the economic benefits of a proposed rule.
A recent study by NAHB economists found that, on average, 25% of the cost of a single-family home is attributable to government regulation.
Given the substantial regulatory burden already borne by the housing industry and the fact that the Small Business Administration has acknowledged that small businesses continue to bear a disproportionate share of the federal regulatory burden, the NAHB board — at the behest of the Home Builders Association of Kentucky — enacted policy at its fall meeting in Milwaukee to “support congressional efforts to address overly burdensome regulations, especially those that impact small businesses in the housing industry.”
In leading a business community push for passage of these bills, NAHB sent a “key vote” letter to House members prior to the vote on H.R. 3010 urging them to support the measure because it would reduce regulatory costs, limit unnecessary regulations, spur job growth and strengthen the economy.
“H.R. 3010 will help ensure that regulations are narrowly tailored, supported by strong and credible data and evidence, and impose the least burden possible while still implementing congressional intent,” the letter said.
“This bill will make the regulatory process more transparent, agencies more accountable and regulations more cost-effective.”
Sponsored by Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Howard Coble (R-Minn.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the bipartisan bill seeks to rein in costly and unnecessary regulations by placing permanent restrictions on regulatory agencies and requiring openness and transparency in the regulatory process.
“Government regulation has become a barrier to economic growth and job creation,” said Rep. Smith, who also serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“We need to encourage businesses to expand, not tie them up with red tape,” Smith said. “The Regulatory Accountability Act will help lift the regulatory burden and free up small businesses and employers to spend more, invest more and produce more to create more jobs for American workers.”
The legislation would enhance the regulatory process by:
- Increasing public participation in shaping the most costly regulations ($100 million in impact or more annually) before they are proposed
- Requiring agencies to choose the least costly option unless they can demonstrate a need to do otherwise to protect public health, safety or welfare
- Providing for on-the-record administrative hearings for the most costly regulations to insure that data from agencies are well tested and reviewed
- Restricting agencies’ use of interim final regulations where no comments are taken before a regulation takes effect and providing expedited judicial review of whether that approach is justified
- Providing a more rigorous test in legal challenges for those regulations that would have the most impact ($1 billion in impact or more annually).
The House is expected to vote on a third regulatory reform bill this week.
H.R. 10, the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, is sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis(R-Ky.) and would require congressional approval for government regulations that have an annual impact of at least $100 million.
Companion bills for H.R. 3010 (S. 1606) and H.R. 10 (S. 299) are pending in the Senate.
The legislation can be viewed on http://thomas.loc.gov by typing the bill number in the box at the upper center of the page.
For more information, email Alex Strong at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8279.
Article reprinted with permission from the NAHB
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