Akron has begun accepting applications for 100 percent tax abatements on new construction and major renovations of houses anywhere in the city. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports on the expansion of an incentive usually reserved for commercial and industrial projects.
City Council approved the program in April, and now the state has OK’d the designation that allows the residential abatements to be applied anywhere in the city. Mayor Dan Horrigan’s spokeswoman, Ellen Lander Nischt, says the idea is to try to counter decades of population loss.
“We’ve had on average less than 10 new homes built in the city every year for the past couple decades. We’re hoping to triple, quadruple -- see that number really increase dramatically -- in the next couple years. So hopefully, even next year, this time next year, we’ll be able to see a significant impact.” :16
The abatement is of property taxes – most of which go to the schools. Lander-Nischt says the schools have endorsed the abatement program because they hope to benefit from more young families moving into the city.
Click here for an application for abatement.
