The city of Cleveland plans a deeper look at its policy of offering property tax abatements for new housing.
Cleveland offers for new housing construction and significant home rehabs. Councilman Tony Brancatelli to hire a consultant to reexamine those policies.
鈥淲e know we have some really strong markets in Ohio City, Tremont, University Circle,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he idea is to see, do we need to continue that policy in those neighborhoods? Can we leverage that policy in emerging markets? How do we jump-start markets that are flat?鈥
The study could look at possible changes to tax policies, he said, such as shortening the amount or lifespan of abatements, or using the policies to encourage affordable housing.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e really looking at,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he broader policy, are there tweaks that we can do, that doesn鈥檛 hurt the existing market, at the same time can help some of our markets that need additional assistance?鈥
The Cleveland Foundation is providing $150,000 for the study.