Council to vote on extending housing tax abatement; Would extend program for another three years
Published 6:34 am Thursday, November 21, 2019
The Austin City Council approved a motion to vote on an extension of the Housing Tax Abatement program during its work session Monday evening.
The council adopted a pilot program for the abatement in August of 2016. Under the program, any new single or multi-family housing built in Austin would receive a five-year tax abatement, pending approval, which would eliminate property taxes during those five years. The Austin Public School District and Mower County Board of Commissioners also approved the program; all three entities must approve an abatement request for it to go through.
The current program is set to expire on Dec. 31.
According to City Administrator Craig Clark, the city has approved 40 housing tax abatements, though not all have ultimately moved forward with construction. While this was not a sizeable increase that could be directly linked to the abatement program, Clark noted that there continues to be a significant demand for housing at all levels in the community, citing the following from the city’s 2017 housing study:
“In total, we find demand to support 442 general occupancy housing units between 2013 and 2020. Highest demand will likely be for rental housing, representing roughly 64 percent of the total general occupancy housing demand, while for-sale housing represents 36 percent of general occupancy housing demand. We also found excess demand for a total of 363 senior housing units in 2020. Of these senior units, roughly 70 percent would be market rate housing and the remaining 30 percent would be affordable or subsidized housing.”
Clark also noted Austin’s significantly aging housing stock as well as the number of nuisance properties that have to be demolished as reasons to extend the abatement program.
The Mower County Board of Commissioners voted to extend the Housing Tax Abatement program earlier this month. Clark said the city anticipates Austin Public Schools will consider a renewal by the end of the year.
The council will vote on the extension during its next regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 2.