GPRA Baseline Questionnaire for CLGs

OMB Control Number: 1024-0038

Expiration Date: MM/DD/YYYY

USE THIS FORM: 1) IF YOU HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY COMPLETED A BASELINE FORM, 2) IF YOUR PRIOR BASELINE FORM NEEDS CORRECTIONS, OR 3) IF YOU DID NOT SUBMIT AN ANNUAL FORM FOR EACH OF THE YEARS SUBSEQUENT TO YOUR MOST RECENTLY SUBMITTED BASELINE QUESTIONNAIRE.

National Park Service

Heritage Preservation Assistance Programs

Historic Preservation Grants Division

GPRA Baseline Questionnaire for CLGs

CLG NAME: ____________________ STATE: ____________________

CONTACT FOR THIS FORM: ____________________ TELEPHONE: ____________________

E-MAIL: ____________________

Please read Guidance for Completing the GPRA Baseline Questionnaire for CLGs. This guidance defines terms, explains what to count, and follows the questionnaire.

1. CLG Inventory and Local Register

a. What is the cumulative number (or your best estimate of the number) of historic

properties in your CLG inventory as of September 30, 2006? ____________

b. In addition, does your local government have a list of locally registered/

designated historic properties (such as a local register of historic places)? Yes  No 

c. If the answer to question 1.b. is “No,” please enter “NP” (No Program) in the

blank to the right. If the answer is “Yes,” what is the cumulative number (or

your best estimate of the number) of historic properties locally registered/

designated as of September 30, 2006? ____________

2. Local Tax Incentives

a. Does your local government have a local historic preservation tax incentives

program that includes your office in some level of review or oversight? Yes  No 

b. If the answer is “No,” please enter “NP” (No Program) in the blank to the right.

If the answer is “Yes,” what is the cumulative number (or your best

estimate of the number) of historic properties whose owners have taken

advantage of those incentives as of September 30, 2006? ____________

3. Local “Bricks and Mortar” Grant or Loan Program

a. Does your local government have a locally-funded, historic preservation grant

or loan program that is run through, administered, or reviewed by your office? Yes  No 

b. If the answer is “No,” please enter “NP” (No Program) in the blank to the right.

If the answer is “Yes,” what is the cumulative number (or your best estimate

of the number) of historic properties assisted by these grants or loans as of

September 30, 2006? ____________

CLG NAME: _________________________ STATE: _________________________

4. Local Regulatory Program

a. Does your local government have a local law or laws that protect historic

properties through a regulatory review and compliance process (for example,

Commission review of changes to historic properties) and that involves your

office in some level of review or oversight? Yes  No 

b. If the answer is “No,” please enter “NP” (No Program) in the blank to the right.

If the answer is “Yes,” what is the cumulative number (or your best estimate

of the number) of historic properties that your office has reviewed under that

process as of September 30, 2006? ____________

5. Local Property Acquisition Program

a. Does your local government by purchase, donation, condemnation, or other

means help to acquire or acquire itself some degree of title (e.g., fee simple

interest or an easement) in historic properties? Yes  No 

b. If the answer is “No,” please enter “NP” (No Program) in the blank to the right.

If the answer is “Yes,” what is the cumulative number (or your best estimate

of the number) of historic properties with a property interest acquisition assisted

or carried out by your local government as of September 30, 2006? ____________

Thank you for completing this questionnaire. Please send it, not later than December 31, 2008, to:

Historic Preservation Grants Division Attention: John Renaud

Heritage Preservation Assistance Programs

National Park Service

1849 C Street, NW (Organization Code 2256)

Washington, DC 20240

Alternatively, feel free to send the questionnaire to John Renaud by fax at 202-371-1794 or by e-mail at [email protected]. If you plan to use Federal Express or a similar service, use the following street address: 1201 Eye Street NW (Organization Code 2256), Washington, DC 20005. If you want an electronic (Word) version of this format and accompanying guidance, please contact John by e-mail. Because of its long-term uses, it will never be too late to provide this report’s information. If you have any questions, please contact John by telephone at 202-354-2066, by fax, or by e-mail.

National Park Service

Heritage Preservation Assistance Programs

Historic Preservation Grants Division

GUIDANCE FOR COMPLETING

THE GPRA BASELINE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CLGs

1. What is the purpose of this questionnaire?

The data that you provide contribute to establishing and maintaining a baseline on those achievements of the national historic preservation partnership that CLGs accomplish. The data that we request all relate to key program elements for every CLG; i.e., the designation and protection of historic and prehistoric properties. Except for the CLG inventory (which is a Federal requirement), this questionnaire focuses on CLG accomplishments under local laws and programs. We have information from other sources concerning CLG contributions to historic preservation under Federal and State law and programs. The responses to this questionnaire provide critical information and documentation for the Administration’s and the Congress’ budgetary decision-making process under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). On a

long-term basis, we plan to post on the web results from the questionnaire and the annual report. For your use and perusal, we have posted on our web site (http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/clg/index.htm) results from FY 1997 through FY 2005. We will post this year's results as soon as possible. In this way, we can share information about your program and achievements with your colleagues and with the public. We also expect that this information will be useful to you and to your colleagues in your State Historic Preservation Office.

2. Will I have to fill out the Baseline Questionnaire every year?

No. Once you have provided us with the cumulative baseline figures, we will update the cumulative figures based on the information on each year’s annual report that you send us. After you complete the baseline questionnaire, you only will need to revise it 1) if changes in your local historic programs mean that an answer needs revision or 2) if (subsequent to your last completed baseline questionnaire) you miss an annual report.

3. What should I do if my office missed a report or if, in retrospect, we discover that we made a mistake in an earlier report?

Because of the long-term uses for this information, it will never be too late to provide this questionnaire’s information. We hope that you take advantage of opportunities to update the information that we have about your program. You have a choice as to how to accomplish this. You may either provide/correct the earlier report or you may prepare a new cumulative baseline report for a more recent year. For example, if your local government was a CLG during FY 1998 but your office has not responded to any of the subsequent requests for information, you would have the following options. Your first option is to prepare and send us a FY 1997 cumulative baseline response plus an annual report for FY 1998, FY 1999, FY 2000, FY 2001,

FY 2002, FY 2003, FY 2004, FY 2005, FY 2006, and FY 2007. You can use this year’s forms by changing the dates. Your second option is to provide questionnaire answers and baseline data through FY 2006 plus a FY 2007 annual report. We have prepared the baseline form for data cumulative through FY 2006.

When using the Baseline Questionnaire to update previous submittals, you only need to fill out those questions that you are updating. We will assume that your answers to the other questions are unchanged.

4. Are there any definitions or special instructions that I need to know to properly complete this form?

“Historic Property” means a property that, regardless of government action (i.e., whether it is listed or not), meets the eligibility criteria for listing in your local register or for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. A historic property can include archeological as well as above-ground resources. Other properties are outside the purview of this questionnaire. In some communities, this term is equivalent to “historic resource,” “historic landmark,” or some other similar term.

“Designation” as used in this document means that the local government has officially identified the property as historic. Most CLGs have two levels of designation. That is, one level of designation is an evaluation of significance that carries no consequences. CLGs often refer to this as “the inventory” or “the survey.” The other level of designation carries consequences such as eligibility for benefits or being subject to design review for proposed changes. CLGs often refer to this level of designation as “the local register,” “the landmarks list,” etc.

“Protection” as used in this document means that because of government action, a historic property retains those elements that make the property historic.

“Cumulative” means since your local government historic preservation program began. For the CLG inventory question (question 1a), the local register question (question 1c), and the acquisition question (question 5b), this includes the time before your local government became a CLG. For the CLG inventory question and the local register question, this also means the net number of properties in the category as of September 30 of the baseline year. For example, the local register figure would be the sum of all properties ever added to the register minus the sum of all properties ever removed from the register because of demolition, etc. The cumulative baseline is a snapshot of what is in your CLG inventory and local register as of September 30. Properties formerly but not currently on the CLG inventory or your local register are useful to know about for historical reasons but not as a historic preservation baseline. For the local tax incentives question (question 2b), the local grant or loan program question (question 3b), and the local regulatory laws question (question 4b), include only those properties protected since your government became a CLG. This baseline questionnaire and the accompanying annual report aim to gather data on CLG accomplishments. Prior successes, though important for historic preservation, are not a part of CLG accomplishments or workload.

Please answer every question. For questions 1.a., 1.c., 2.b., 3.b., 4.b., and 5.b., fill in every blank with a number or a “NP.” For those questions, please do not use a check mark, “yes,” “no,” “unknown”, or similar ways to fill in the blanks. Insert “0” if the subject matter applies, but there was no activity during the reporting period. Insert “NP” (i.e., “No Program”) if the subject matter does not apply to your local government’s historic preservation programs. For example, you should enter “NP” for question 3b if your government does not have a local government preservation tax incentives program. For every local program for which you entered a “NO” in the Baseline Questionnaire, we would expect to see a “NP” in the following year’s Annual Report unless you began the program during the year covered by the Annual Report. In that case, a notation on the Annual Report would be helpful.

From a cumulative baseline perspective, it is impossible to have more historic properties locally registered than are present on the CLG inventory. There are other relationships between questions. For example, generally speaking, showing a “0” for the CLG inventory and a number larger than “0” for any of the “protection“ questions would not make sense.

5. How do I report on historic properties whose protection is not carried out or monitored by my office?

You don’t have to. For the purposes of this questionnaire, report only those historic properties whose designation or protection has involved your local government’s historic preservation office/commission in some way; e.g., through review, approval, project administration, covenant or easement oversight, etc. or for which your office has the data.

6. How should I count historic districts?

Do not count a district as a single property. Count the total number of buildings, structures, sites, or objects that contribute to the significance of the district. If you do not know the number of contributing properties, please provide your best estimate of the number.

7. We don’t use the same terminology that appears on the form and in this guidance. Do we have to change how we refer to things?

That decision is between you and your State Historic Preservation Office. A national report needs to use national terms that follow Federal statutes and policy. For your own purposes, you should use terms that make sense to you. All we ask is that you know how your terms relate to the national terms because we won’t understand the relationship. Therefore, for this questionnaire please make the conversion from your terminology to the national terminology.

8. What is the difference between a “CLG inventory” and a “local register”?

As a CLG, under Federal law, you already have a CLG inventory, but you might not have a local register. You have a “local register” only if your State’s CLG procedures require it and/or your local government has created a registration/designation process under local law. Your community may have given your local register some other name that means a list of locally registered historic properties. In most situations, you can think of historic properties that are listed on your local register as a subset of the historic properties that are included in your CLG inventory. Because of the consequences under local law that usually attend being added to the local register, normally a CLG will have more historic properties in its CLG inventory than it has on its local register. The annual additions to each will vary.

A CLG inventory encompasses everything that you know about the resources within the jurisdiction of the local government regardless of how you got the information. It doesn’t matter, for example, if the inventory information was gathered as a part of a State or federally-funded survey. For question 1a on the form, we are interested in the number of CLG inventory properties that are historic properties. Under Federal law, there are no legal consequences when you add property to your CLG inventory. Your local register (or whatever name you give it), on the other hand, usually has consequences under local law. In fact, if your State’s CLG procedures require a local registration/designation ordinance, there must be local consequences under local law for properties newly added to the local register. Usually, when a historic property is added to a local register, the property becomes subject to some kind of review process and/or becomes eligible for some kind of local benefits. In other words, every historic property that is on the local register is also on the CLG inventory, but not every historic property on the CLG inventory is on the local register.

9. We don’t have anything called a “local inventory” or a “local register,” but we do have other lists and overlay zones that identify historic properties. Should I count those?

Yes, as long as you can count the number of historic properties that those lists or overlays include. Don’t worry about the titles given to the information that you have about historic properties. Use the guidance in the answer to question 8 above, to help you determine where in the report to include the number of historic properties. In some cases, you should report the number in both the blanks for question 1a and question 1c on the form and in some cases just in the blank for question 1a about CLG inventories.

10. From time to time, due to demolition, we have had to remove some properties from both our CLG inventory and our local register. Do you want us to adjust our cumulative figures for the CLG inventory and local register to reflect those losses?

Yes, if you have that information readily available. The cumulative baseline is a snapshot of what is in your CLG inventory and local register as of September 30. Properties formerly but not currently on the CLG inventory or your local register are useful to know about for historical reasons but not as a historic preservation baseline.

11. Why do you have separate questions on “designated” and “protected” historic properties throughout this questionnaire? Why not just ask for the number of properties in our CLG inventory? In that way, with one question, you could account for all historic properties that have been designated and protected. All of our locally “listed” properties are included on our CLG inventory. All of our properties that have been “protected” in one way or another are also “designated” properties.

Reporting separately on “designated” historic properties and “protected” properties better represents the historic preservation work that you do. Each time the local government designates a property or (for example) provides financial assistance to a property, that action adds to the protection inherent in being part of your CLG inventory. We wish to give you full credit.

Also, this is the kind of information that citizens in your CLG and your colleagues in other CLGs or local governments want to know. Folks living in a CLG or thinking about moving there may want to know what kinds of historic preservation opportunities exist. Communities that are considering whether to create

historic preservation programs want to know who else has the programs so that wheels don’t have to be re-invented. We will make this information available on the Web and upon request. For your use and perusal, we have posted on our web site (http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/clg/index.htm) results from FY 1997 through FY 2006. We will post this year's results as soon as possible. We are seeking this information because it is not available anywhere else on a national basis.

12. Some historic properties are protected more than once (e.g., tax benefits achieved and permits reviewed). Should I count a property only once or each time that it is reviewed, receives a grant, etc.?

Count a property each time that it is reviewed, receives a grant, etc. This approach gives you credit for all the protection that you give to a historic property, not just the initial instance. Note that for this reporting you do not have to know or provide a list of what happened to each historic property. What you need to know for this questionnaire are total figures for each category; i.e., the total number of properties designated, receiving tax benefits, etc.

13. For some of our local programs, the main purpose is not historic preservation, but the programs protect historic properties as an incidental consequence. Housing programs are a good example. Should I count those?

Yes. As long as historic properties are protected and your office is involved or has the data, count those programs and the properties that they protect.

14. Our historic preservation financial assistance programs (grants, loans, etc.) are not funded every year. Should I report that we have the program or not?

Answer “Yes” to question 3a, if the ordinance authorizing the financial assistance was still in effect during some portion of the baseline year. If the authorizing ordinance was no longer in effect, but the protective agreements resulting from the financial assistance were still in effect after certification as a CLG, answer “No,” but include those properties in answering question 3b.

If no authorizing ordinance was involved in the financial assistance program, answer “Yes” to question 3a if the financial assistance program was either in effect during the baseline year or any protective agreements resulting from the program were still in effect during the baseline year. If no authorizing ordinance was involved in the financial assistance program, answer “No” to question 3a but enter property numbers for question 3b in the following circumstances. Follow this approach if the financial assistance program was not in effect for the baseline year but either was in effect since certification as a CLG or any protective agreements resulting from the program were still in effect after certification.

For the purposes of the local historic preservation grant or loan blank, count a historic property if preservation work (a.k.a. “bricks and mortar”) is involved. Report elsewhere (e.g., under Acquisition) those properties that your local grants or loans assisted in other ways (e.g., to help a nonprofit organization purchase a preservation easement).

15. We administer some grants from the State and the staff of the State Historic Preservation Office helps us with some of our locally-funded programs. How should I treat these situations in responding to questions 3a and 3b?

Count only properties protected through grants supported by funds coming from local government sources. Do not count 1) grants from Federal (or matching) funds administered by State or local agencies or 2) State government grants. For example, don’t count historic properties that you protect through Historic Preservation Fund CLG subgrants. These are counted elsewhere on State or Federal Government forms. However, if the funds are local, count the benefiting properties in this questionnaire even if you receive technical assistance from other sources.

16. Many of our historic preservation accomplishments are achieved through the financial support of the private sector or through non-profit organizations such as the National Trust’s Main Street program. Should we include these achievements in our reporting on the number of historic properties that we protect through grants or loans?

No. Although we recognize that a large percentage of current historic preservation would not take place without the financial support of non-profit organizations and the private sector, this questionnaire is focusing on the achievements of local government historic preservation programs.

17. What should I count in the “Local Regulatory Program” blanks? What does “review and compliance” mean?

For the purposes of the “Local Regulatory Program” blanks, include only local laws that provide historic preservation protection to historic properties in a regulatory setting; e.g., through a reviewing, permitting, or certificate of appropriateness process. This type of program is often referred to as "review and compliance." “Review and compliance” refers to the review of permits, plans, applications, etc. to help ensure compliance with regulatory laws related to the protection of historic properties. Do not count (in this blank) laws providing protection to historic properties through financial incentives (e.g., tax laws) or financial assistance (e.g., grant programs). Report that information elsewhere on the report.

18. Sometimes we approve requests for demolition or make other decisions that do not result in the protection of properties. These reviews are a legitimate part of our workload. Should we count these for question 4b?

No. If it is easy for you to separate out those reviews/recommendations that are likely to result in a historic property's destruction or loss of significance, don't include them in this baseline questionnaire. We are trying to get an estimate of the number of historic property reviews where preservation is a likely result. If it is difficult to separate your regulatory reviews by result, don't worry -- just give us your total figures.

19. What does “Acquisition” include?

“Acquisition” refers to any legally-binding, title-related interest in the historic property that the local government has obtained (or has helped others to obtain) thereby making the property subject to your local historic preservation laws and policies. The interest in the property’s title could be anything ranging from fee simple absolute to an easement. The method of acquisition is not important here. Include in the count any historic property that comes into local government ownership.

20. Where do I report publications, brochures, public education, site interpretation, historic plaques and markers, and other historic preservation accomplishments that we have achieved?

These are not part of this questionnaire. While important, for GPRA purposes we have limited the questions to products that more directly affect specific historic properties. This reduces the burden in gathering and reporting this data. However, you may include your other accomplishments as part of your periodic reporting to your State Historic Preservation Office (in some States this is required) or, if you wish, directly to us.

21. Many of the questions that you ask relate primarily to CLG workload. Wouldn't it be better to ask how many of our historic properties are still in good condition? In the final analysis, preserving our irreplaceable resources is the true test of our success as historic preservationists.

If funding and staffing were no object, we would want both workload information and data on the condition of historic resources. One of the aims of this questionnaire is to make use of readily available information rather than to create a new workload in gathering and tracking data. Especially for larger CLGs, data on the condition of historic and prehistoric properties often are not readily available. Another purpose of this questionnaire is to gauge the contribution that CLGs make to historic preservation. In assessing a property's condition, without asking the property owner it is difficult to distinguish which parts (if any) of a property's good condition are due to local, State, and/or Federal historic preservation program efforts. CLG workload data on the other hand usually is readily available, readily assignable to CLG efforts, and can be used to draw reasonable inferences about the condition of properties.

22. In the categories that you ask about, we have done nothing (or very little). Do you want us to send you a baseline report with such low numbers?

Your report is valuable to us no matter how little you have to report. The Baseline Questionnaire only asks a few questions. Many CLGs respond to the questions by answering "NP," "0," or "1" either because they (or one of their programs) are just getting started or because they have had other historic preservation priorities over the years. We make no judgments of the quality of your historic preservation program based upon the numbers that you supply in your baseline reports. Don't worry about not having much to report. We think that it is a big deal for any local government to commit in writing to historic preservation by enforcing appropriate laws for the designation and protection of historic and prehistoric properties. We also recognize that the categories that we ask about do not cover all of the CLG’s activities.

Small CLGs with not much action in the categories that the National Park Service asks about are just as important as big CLGs with a lot of action. Each year, a few hundred CLGs provide new baseline figures. We then extrapolate the figures from the reporting CLGs to produce national estimates for all CLGs. Thus, the more CLGs that report, the more accurate the projections will be. Given that there are more small CLGs than big ones, it is important that as many small CLGs as possible report; otherwise our national projections will be too high.

23. Do we have to use the form that NPS has provided?

No. We care more about the content of the data that you provide than we care about the format in which you provide it or the medium by which you transmit it to us. As long as NPS can clearly tell which data relate to which question on the form and you provide information corresponding to every blank on the form, we are satisfied. E-mail messages, spread sheets, State report pages, etc. are all acceptable.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for a one time baseline report to NPS on the programs and the achievements under those programs that the Certified Local Government (CLG) has achieved as an official member of the national historic preservation partnership pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number.

Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this information collection is estimated to average 25 minutes per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate to Chief, Historic Preservation Grants, National Park Service, 1849 “C” Street, NW (2255), Washington, DC 20240.

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