A tax abatement could lead to the repair of some abandoned buildings in the city.
By Nancy Peckenham
In his final days as planning and development director for the city of Newburgh, Edward Lynch is promoting another piece of a legislation that he believes will lead to stabilization of some city neighborhoods. On Monday, August 6, the city council will hold a public hearing on the proposed law that offers a tax exemption for improvements to one- and two-family houses.
The proposed exemption follows a similar one adopted by the council in May that gives a tax abatement on improvements to mixed use residential-commercial properties. The Newburgh city school district also approved a tax exemption for improvements to properties in the city’s historic district, a move adopted by the city three years earlier. When the tax abatement for mixed use properties came up in the council in May, councilwoman Christine Bello pushed for a similar tax break for owners of one- and two-family dwellings and the planning department developed the current proposal that will be the subject of Monday’s hearing.
A tax abatement program for commercial property owners that was enacted a decade ago helped jump start the revitalization of the city’s waterfront district.
Lynch, who resigned from his position earlier this month, says that the city has probably adopted more property tax legislation in the last six months than any other city in the state. He believes that the tax breaks will encourage people to fix up their homes and vacant buildings. There are currently more than 250 vacant buildings in the city, many allowed to slip into serious stages of disrepair by their owners.
“When people fix up their homes or vacant buildings and are not subject to additional taxes for those improvements for a limited period of time, good things happen,” Lynch said. “Jobs are created, building materials are purchased, building safety problems disappear, and property owners become more vested in the community.”
Lynch will not be around for final approval of the proposed law. His last day of work for the city is Friday, August 5th.
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