Business owners along Dixie Highway are a little closer to tax relief to help revitalize the corridor.
Independence Township Board voted June 16 to move forward with a Commercial Rehabilitation Tax Abatement plan, creating tax incentives for commercial properties for up to 10 years.
Tax break districts can include industrial, commercial, and residential property, said Township Attorney Steve Joppich. He noted the township would have to notify the county and have a public hearing with owners and taxpayers.
The county then would have 28 days to ‘opt out? or reject the establishment of the district.
Trustee Mark Petterson wants to focus on areas of Dixie Highway most in need of renovation.
‘My main concern is I don’t want to go through all the trouble here and spend all this money and get turned down for it,? Petterson said. ‘I want to get this through and we can expand later on.?
Planning Commissioner Ron Richie disagreed. He feels the township should include as much as they can instead of going to the county piece by piece.
‘Better to try and get the areas approved now and show the benefits and use that as the marketing tool or the tool to help the revitalization,? he said. ‘That’s really what we’re doing here is coming up with tools to help the revitalization of empty buildings or areas of Dixie Highway.?
Clerk Shelagh Vanderveen said she understood going for the “whole enchilada.”
“The county might be more generous in the beginning, but once other communities hear about this they’re going to be jumping on the bag wagon and the county might not be so receptive to the idea of handing all of these out.”
Lohmeier said it was a ‘fascinating tool?
It’s a tool that’s good for us and would be useful in our needs.?.
Trustee Neil Wallace said ‘the bigger problem is not the state of the real estate, but the state of the market.
‘I’m concerned this won’t remedy a lot of the concerns that we have about Dixie Highway,? Wallace said. ‘But I think for those properties that do need rehabilitation to move forward this is a good thing and we should look to establishing the public hearing.?
Rosso called it a ‘local stimulus plan.?
‘I think this is a reasonable way to go about it and we got to take some risks to get some results and this is what we’re attempting to do,? Rosso said. ‘I think this is a well thought out plan and it’s worth a venture.?