Lansing City Council holds public hearing on Urban Revitalization Plan/Proposed Tax Abatement Ordinance, hears county housing study review
by Julie Berg-Raymond
“This is an exercise that’s been a long time in the making,” Mayor Mike Verdon said, as he opened the public hearing on an Urban Revitalization Plan and Proposed Tax Abatement Ordinance during the Lansing City Council’s regular meeting Monday, August 5. Describing an urban revitalization plan/tax abatement, Mayor Verdon said it “offers a tax incentive for people to upgrade or improve a property, therefore increasing the taxable valuation.”
Referred to as an “urban revitalization plan” by the Iowa State Code, a tax abatement is “a reduction in the taxes due on a property for a specified amount of time.” After presenting a brief overview of the proposed plan, Main Street Lansing Executive Director Andrew Boddicker offered the council an example of how having a tax abatement ordinance in place would benefit not just an individual property owner but the city as a whole. He said that Main Street Lansing is “in the process of applying for the Challenge Grant for Dave Janzen (owner of Lansing Hardware Hank) - which has a $100,000 match.” Boddicker said all eligible business owners were informed about the grant opportunity; three expressed interest, and Janzen’s project was selected.
The Main Street Iowa Challenge Grant is “a grant program provided by Main Street Iowa (MSI) and the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) for brick-and-mortar building projects in designated Main Street districts. Highly competitive applications include impactful building rehabilitation projects that provide increased business, housing or job opportunities; projects that incorporate quality design and preservation-based strategies; projects that support local revitalization efforts and stimulate additional district investment; and projects that are well planned and achievable within the two-year contract period” (iowagrants.gov).
“Part of the application is support from the city,” Boddicker explained. “You have to have support from the city (‘skin in the game’). That can be as simple as saying, ‘We like this idea - go for it.’ But an even better application is when you have a tax abatement, because it means he will qualify for half of the added value,” he said.
“I’m just hoping tonight we can move forward with this,” Val Reinke, executive director of Allamakee County Economic Development & Tourism (ACED) said. “I feel like we’ve had lots of opportunities to talk about it and ask questions. I love the project that will be going on with Dave … I’m hoping we got this.”
Council member Murray said he thought it was important to go over, again, the objectives of the planned tax abatement ordinance - one of which, he noted, was to “increase the town’s population by 10 percent by 2030. We’re still under 1,000 residents; if you get to 1,000, you qualify for more grant money.”
Another objective, he said, was to address the shortage of housing problem in Lansing. “It’s another opportunity to increase our housing stock and get more affordable housing.” Finally, he said, it encourages “property owners to invest in their property facades, to make the town look better. I certainly support it.”
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