Norquist raised particular concern over how the bill leaves it to municipalities to define blighted, which he suggested would open it up to abuse. nonprofit Americans for Tax Reform, wrote a letter saying the blight tax in the bill would be the broadest in the country. Grover Norquist, the president of the Washington, D.C. Robbins said the exemption provision would help close the gap for builders between costs and the returns needed to make the investment.Ī prominent national opponent of taxes has weighed in against the bill. ![]() “But there are some that we can and should work to solve.” Multiple factors have contributed to this environment, which we have no control over,” Robbins said. “We’re suffering from shortages at all levels. Mike Robbins, executive director of the Anchorage Community Development Corp., predicted the bill would stimulate economic and housing development around the state. CEO Bill Popp noted that the bill requires a public process for a municipality to adopt a blight tax, and that business organizations would participate in the process in Anchorage. ![]() Some spoke at the March 24 hearing.Īnchorage Economic Development Corp. The bill is supported by homebuilders and people working in economic development. ![]() “So I think we have to protect the individual rights as well as the city rights.” “I just want to make sure that a … ‘rogue’ is the wrong word, but that an Assembly that is sort of taking their own direction doesn’t create a problem,” for property owners who are experiencing hard times but have hopes for the future, McCabe said. Kevin McCabe expressed concern that the Anchorage Assembly would use a blight tax to “willy nilly” take property. “Blighted properties often become a magnet for criminal activity, which impose additional costs upon local government,” Sumner said at a March 24 House Community and Regional Affairs Committee meeting where the House bill had its first hearing.īill supporters point to success Anchorage has had with property tax exemptions to spur some construction.īig Lake Republican Rep. Sumner said properties that are allowed to deteriorate bring down the values of neighboring properties. There is a House version, House Bill 84, sponsored by Wasilla Republican Rep. “If it is falling into such disrepair that it’s become a danger to the neighborhood, then frankly that person who owns it, whether they’re in state or out of state, should either fix up the property or sell it to someone who can,” he said. But he said the blight tax would address cases where property owners choose not to take care of their properties. The tax penalty would end when owners fix up their properties.ĭunbar said he believes municipalities are more likely to take advantage of the exemption provisions of the bill than they are to apply a blight tax. These municipalities would be required to establish an appeals process. It would leave it up to municipalities that implement a blight tax to determine what their definition of “blighted” is. The blight tax would not apply to any primary residence, so people with low incomes would not be taxed out of their homes. The bill would change that to allow the entire value to be exempt for a designated period of time. Under current state law, municipalities can only exempt a portion of new commercial developments, including apartments. “Housing in all of Alaska has become incredibly difficult to pencil out,” Dunbar said. The exemption would lower the cost to property owners. ![]() Another provision would allow municipalities to increase the property taxes of owners whose properties have become blighted by as much as 50%.īill sponsor Anchorage Democrat Forrest Dunbar said the bill is aiming at spurring housing development, adding that the high cost of construction in Alaska doesn’t justify new building. One provision of Senate Bill 77 would allow municipalities to exempt the owners of newly developed or redeveloped commercial properties from paying property taxes. The Alaska Senate voted 13-6 on Tuesday to pass a bill that would apply both a carrot and a stick for local governments to encourage the construction and maintenance of developments. Economic development advocates in the city support a bill to allow increased development property tax exemptions and blight taxes. The downtown Anchorage skylline, viewed from Tony Knowles Coastal Trail on Nov.
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