MOUNT VERNON – City Council got its first look at a proposal to create an opportunity for any city property owner to renovate existing homes or build infill housing in Mount Vernon while “freezing out” the value of the improvements for taxes.
The Knox Area Development Foundation (ADF) presented the first of what Jeff Gottke, the organization’s president, said are approximately a dozen plans they are preparing to help solve the housing shortage problem. Mount Vernon needs 1,200 homes just to keep pace with demand.
“What you’ve got in the housing situation in the county is now an economic problem,” Gottke said.
Workforce shortages exist in part because of a lack of supply and decreasing affordability coupled with a projected population growth, aging housing stock and competition with other communities.
“Add to that the fact that construction costs are increasing; lumber prices are up 180% in the last year,” Gottke said. “So on an average house that adds $24,000 just in lumber to the sticker price.”
If city residents want more opportunities like Target or Olive Garden, he said they need more neighbors.
“If we want unlimited salad and breadsticks, we’ve got to get more people in,” Gottke said.
Sam Filkins, the ADF’s vice president, said one tool to improve the quantity and quality of housing in the city would be creating a community reinvestment area across the city.
“We have shortages of all types of housing,” Filkins said. “We need housing for all income levels in all types. We need it across the city.”
With tax abatements, homeowners could add an office to telework or an in-law suite to bring granny into the home instead of sending her to an expensive nursing facility. The abatements only impact the improved property tax value.
Under the proposal, the city would be divided into three sections, based on income levels.
For new homes on infill lots or new multi-family construction, property owners could get a tax abatement between 50% and 100% for 15 years on the improvements to the property.
Renovations of a home, a duplex or multi-family units would get between 50% and 100% of the taxes for the improvements “frozen” for 10 years. Renovation of an historic home would get between 75% and 100% of the improvement value under the tax abatement for 15 to 20 years.
Based on experiences of the 23 other Ohio cities using these tax abatements and Mount Vernon’s own demographics, the ADF leaders do not expect more than four to six projects per year.
