Saturday, April 28, 2007
Legislative update on a tax break for apartments
You'll recall we've had lively discussions about a tax break in Lakewood that gives developers an incentive to build more apartments. My take on the subject is that Lakewood already has a larger percentage than surrounding communities of rental properties, and we don't need to hand breaks to developers in such a broad way. Intentionally or not, there is very little information out there about how various cities and developers have used the tax break strategically, leading to concerns that it is being abused. A lack of information always muddies a discussion.
So it's good to read that the Legislature has at least re-examined the subject, as discussed in Peter Callaghan's latest column. He writes that House Bill 1910 would adjust the tax break to promote affordable housing and call for gathering more information about how the tax break has been used. One thing that I found frustrating is that there is no clearinghouse for information about this tax break, so it's hard to know which cities have used it most effectively. If you don't know who has used it effectively, you don't know who to model your program after.
If you want to read more about the topic, you can find a legislative staff report here.
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So it's good to read that the Legislature has at least re-examined the subject, as discussed in Peter Callaghan's latest column. He writes that House Bill 1910 would adjust the tax break to promote affordable housing and call for gathering more information about how the tax break has been used. One thing that I found frustrating is that there is no clearinghouse for information about this tax break, so it's hard to know which cities have used it most effectively. If you don't know who has used it effectively, you don't know who to model your program after.
If you want to read more about the topic, you can find a legislative staff report here.
