Three years ago this February, Kings Theatre in Brooklyn reopened after a years-long effort to rehabilitate this Loews Wonder Theater, one of five built in the New York area at the peak of the Jazz Age. Styled as a French movie palace, Kings opened in 1929 as Brooklyn’s version of the Paris Opera House. Walking into Kings today is like stepping back in time to visit 19th-century Paris and enjoy an American interpretation of the interior architectural grandeur of the Palais Garnier. From the magnificence of the chandeliers to the opulent fabrics, pink marble, 70-foot tall gilded ceiling, and 3,200 plush seats, it’s hard to imagine it was recently an urban ruin, left to rot since 1977—a time when the federal government was telling New York to drop dead.

Restoring a historic landmark in Flatbush—a community that over the years experienced economic disinvestment as waves of new Americans made Brooklyn their home—was an uphill battle. Aside from the complexity of the restoration itself, an even more challenging question was how to make it economically viable. The $95 million project required assembling financial resources from many pots, including federal Historic and New Markets tax credits. The numbers simply would not have penciled out if these tax credits were not available. And yet, both of these important financial tools—expressly created to stimulate community redevelopment—are in jeopardy under variations of the proposed tax bill that is currently being reconciled in Congress.

Why would Washington eliminate these two successful community-redevelopment tools? It’s a mystery, given that Historic and New Markets tax credits are proven to actually increase tax revenues because they create jobs, spur investment and grow small businesses.

Kings Theatre has been a catalyst for Flatbush Avenue. Crain’s reported that within a year of the reopening, theater crowds caused local businesses to hire additional workers and entrepreneurs to open new shops. What’s more, there are now two new ground-up commercial developments, including a new hotel. The nearby Flatbush Caton Market will open in 2020, with 40 vendors and 255 units of affordable housing.

The impact of Kings Theatre is not an anomaly. According to a study by Rutgers University, between 1978 and 2016, historic tax credits were used to rehabilitate 42,293 buildings, created 2.4 million jobs and generated $29.8 billion in federal taxes, more than the $25.2 billion in credits allocated by the U.S. Treasury. Historic restoration projects tend to be in neighborhoods that are denser, have more affordable housing and small businesses, particularly women and minority-owned businesses.

What’s more, given the bifurcation of our economy into areas of opportunity and areas of decline, the elimination of New Markets Tax Credits is even more disturbing. Created in the late days of the Clinton administration and implemented under George W. Bush, New Markets are the only federal tax incentive designed to spur commercial investment in severely economically distressed areas. Mixed-use, commercial and institutional projects in poor ZIP codes would become all but impossible without this tax credit. Its loss would be devastating and senseless: Between 2003 and 2015, the credit resulted in over 1 million jobs in low-income rural towns and urban neighborhoods. Data from the Senate Joint Committee on Taxation show that in 2015, the New Market Tax Credit Program generated $15.2 billion in economic activity which yielded $872 million in federal tax revenue, more than enough to cover the $759 million cost of the program in that year. That represents a 15% return to the federal government.

Despite what you may hear, federal tax incentive programs like Historic and New Markets tax credits are effective, market-based policies that function precisely as they were designed. Eliminating them would simply mean less investment and fewer jobs available to those most in need.

It’s not often that we can make a direct connection between our tax dollars at work and a night on the town enjoying a live show, be it Diana Ross, Wilco or the Hip Hop Nutcracker. But that is precisely what Kings Theatre is—a truly wondrous example of effective tax policy. Anyone who agrees this kind of economic development is a good use of tax dollars should call members of Congress and let them know. Now.

Daniel Marsh is the president and CEO of the National Development Council, an economic and community development nonprofit that worked closely with the New York City Economic Development Corp. to assemble the financial package to rehabilitate Kings Theatre.