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The Carbondale City Council is set to discuss and possibly amend a 14-year-old ordinance that allows the city to abate property taxes during its monthly meeting
The Council will meet at 7 tonight in City hall to discuss a number of ordinances, including the Enterprise Zone ordinance, which was adopted in 1989 and allowed to participate in the Jackson County-Murphysboro-Carbondale Enterprise Zone.
The ordinance allowed the city to abate its property taxes on improvements made to land within the Enterprise Zone. It also approved an intergovernmental agreement among Jackson County, the city of Murphysboro and the city of Carbondale that formally established the Enterprise Zone.
Other taxing districts agreed to abate their property taxes in the Enterprise Zone and passed individual resolutions authorizing the abatements.
According to city councilmember Steven Haynes, the ordinance was created to help local businesses expand and grow.
"It allowed businesses in the Enterprise Zone to pay a reduced rate of taxes with a gradual increase over time," Haynes said.
Enterprise Zone incentives include 100-percent abatement of real estate taxes for five years and 50-percent abatement for the following five years; a sales tax deduction for building materials that will be permanently part of the building; and waiving construction permit fees.
However, there was no provision in the city's ordinance and the intergovernmental agreement that addressed the situation of a Tax Increment Financing District being formed within the Enterprise Zone.
Although an Enterprise Zone abates property taxes, a Tax Increment Financing District relies on the increased property taxes to pay for public improvements and extraordinary development costs.
In order for a Tax Increment Financing District to be created within the Enterprise Zone, a provision must be added to the ordinance and the intergovernmental agreement that states, "No abatement shall be applicable to any such improvement located within the boundaries of a Tax Increment Development Project District."
City councilmember Chris Wissmann said that the law is very complicated, and it has been amended a lot, but he likes it.
"It's something new for the city of Carbondale," Wissmann said. "It is a rather interesting and exciting way to spur business development in the city."
Wissmann said he believes that there is not going to be any problems created by the ordinance, provided that everybody in the district is on board with it.
Carbondale, Murphysboro and Jackson County are the only ones that need to amend their ordinances to address the issue.
The council is also to have a public hearing on proposed application for a housing rehabilitation grant from the Community Development Assistance Program. The grant would help many low-income homeowners who do not have resources to make necessary improvements to their homes.
Community members are encouraged by the council to attend and voice any opinions they may have on the issue.
The council is also set to act on an ordinance vacating a portion of an alley located north of 505 South James Street. A public hearing for the ordinance took place at the June 17 council meeting, but the absence of several council members prevented action.
"It takes six votes to act on a vacation of an alley, and only five council members were present," said Janet Vaught, City Clerk of Carbondale.
No community members were present at the meeting to comment on the issue.
Several other issues that will be discussed during the meeting include a resolution providing for a Feasibility Study on the designation of a portion of the city of Carbondale as a redevelopment project area and a review and action on the Preservation Commission's Annual Report for 2003.
