HILLSDALE — Hillsdale’s leaders joined with representatives from Portage-based Allen Edwin Homes Monday for a groundbreaking ceremony on Hidden Meadows Drive where middle-income housing for the workforce will be built.
Allen Edwin Homes first came to the city in the fall of 2023 with their plan to build three duplex-style residential units that will ultimately house six families with occupancy available in early 2025.
The project is the first in Hillsdale to take advantage of new state legislation which allows developers to seek payment in lieu of taxes agreements with municipalities in order to entice housing development.
The council approved a 10-percent PILOT payment over 15 years for Allen Edwin Homes’ project in Hillsdale, which came under scrutiny of Councilman Joshua Paladino when the council took up the issue on Nov. 20, 2023.
Paladino, who opposed the concept of the PILOT payments, ultimately voted no on the resolution to allow the project to proceed while the rest of the council voted aye.
“Hillsdale is experiencing a surge of energy as investment in the community continues to grow,” Brian Farkas, director of workforce housing for Allen Edwin Homes, said. “Allen Edwin Homes is thrilled to be part of this momentum by bringing more housing to Hillsdale.”
Previously, the PILOT incentive only applied to developments qualifying for low-income housing tax credits, which typically involve large apartment complexes. By contrast, this new tool can be applied to smaller apartment developments and single-family homes, city officials said.
The agreement with the city requires Allen Edwin to keep rents affordable to families earning up to 120% of the median household income for 15 years.
“We are excited to be working with Allen Edwin Homes to bring additional housing options to Hillsdale,” Hillsdale Mayor Adam Stockford said. “Housing is a need, not only in Hillsdale but across the entire state. This project builds on the recent growth we’ve been seeing as investors realize the opportunity our community has to offer.”
A state housing report published in 2022 found approximately 47% of the state’s housing units are more than 50 years old and that Michigan needs 190,000 more units to meet current housing needs. The report also found, as of 2019, about 26% of Michigan residents were considered “housing-cost burdened” because they spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
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“Preserving our aging housing stock and developing new units are both critically important to tackle our housing shortage and grow our local economy,” Hillsdale City Manager David Mackie said. “These new homes will help address the need for affordable housing for working class families, young professionals, or retiring residents who are looking to downsize. This project is a significant step forward.”
The developer has proposed for the second phase a mix of “for sale” and rental single-family homes on the remaining acreage in the Three Meadows Subdivision they currently have under exclusive option.
— Contact Reporter Corey Murray atcmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
In Brenda Williams’ 35-year career in public housing, she has seen a lot. From the front lines of moving families into new homes to strategic planning sessions in board rooms, Williams makes it her business to ensure that affordable housing is within reach of everyone she can. “Housing is a life necessity,” she says, “and anything I can do to help people obtain it inspires me.”
This commitment to the wellbeing and safety of others has made her a trusted leader and subject matter expert, as well as one of Tallahassee’s 25 Women You Need to Know in 2024.
Williams chose Tallahassee. After working her way to the role of executive director of the St. Louis, MO, Housing Authority, serving as Transitional Administrator for the Camden New Jersey Housing Authority, and finally serving as the Chief of Staff for the New Orleans Housing Authority, she spent another 14 years in consulting work, providing strategic management services to housing agencies throughout the southwest. “I was in and out of 52 housing authorities over the course of 35 years,” she says.
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She decided it was time to make a home for herself. “I was tired of traveling every week,” she said. “And after growing up in the Midwest, I chose Tallahassee because of the weather.”
Now, she enjoys her current role of executive director of the Tallahassee Housing Authority, a job she embraces for its nuances and purpose. “My day often begins with text messages from people looking for a home,” she says. “When I can help someone find housing, it’s a good day. I just wish I was able to help everyone.”
To that end, she is a volunteer for Tallahassee Crime Solvers as a board member. “I want to be part of the solution in the neighborhoods that are often served by my work,” she said.
Much of her time is spent working on the $82 million redevelopment of the former Orange Avenue Apartments. “Moving someone into an apartment and off of the street is the most rewarding part of my work,” she says. “I like what I do because it’s an opportunity to change lives for the better and helps to make communities thrive.”
Construction on the second phase is projected to be complete in June, and she looks forward to moving families back into their new homes.
She always knew she wanted to work in social services, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s in Sociology/Social Work from Lincoln University. “I immediately went into my first job as section 8 coordinator in the St. Louis Housing Authority,” she said. “Back then, urban planning was not a field of study.”
Williams chose Tallahassee for the weather, and she stays because of the community. “The people in Tallahassee are kind and caring,” she says. “I love cooking for my friends, entertaining, and being at home!”
Seeing opportunity and hope for affordable housing in Tallahassee, Williams hopes that we will keep our eye on the prize. “The most important thing Tallahassee can do is stay focused on looking for creative ways to provide housing that is affordable in today’s economy,” she said. “All we have to do is stay focused on what is possible.”
Greater Louisville’s elected officials and business leaders have been busy in recent years implementing policies to create a more competitive and business-friendly environment. As many of our peer cities are seeing exorbitant housing prices and costs of doing business, Greater Louisville is seizing this opportunity to market our advantages in affordability, logistics and quality of life. Over the past year, the Kentucky General Assembly lowered the state’s personal income tax by a full percent and is working diligently to meet revenue triggers to further reduce it in the coming years. Plus, they have invested in innovative programs like the Kentucky Product Development Initiative, that are helping to make our state more attractive to corporate investment.
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We are already seeing the pay-off from these programs and other policies. Last year, Greater Louisville Inc. grew our economic development project pipeline by 93%, showing there is rising interest in businesses relocating and expanding to our region. But we cannot stop here. In addition to addressing long-term issues like workforce participation and public safety, we have to finish what we started with tax reform by creating more opportunities for community investment through local tax structures.
Louisville has a unique economy that employs hundreds of thousands of people and welcomes millions more through tourism. Right now, much of the city’s funding comes from taxation on our workers through an occupational tax. If we can change the model—taxing consumption rather than production—not only will we keep more money in Louisvillians pockets, we will also increase our ability to invest in community assets by capturing consumption-based revenue.
What can Louisville learn from other cities to improve tax law?
Two years ago, GLI took a group of 120 business and elected leaders to Jacksonville, Florida for our annual Greater Louisville Idea Development Expedition. We heard from Jacksonville’s top leaders who attributed much of their success to updated infrastructure and improvement projects funded by small and incremental local taxes. From infrastructure investments to downtown revitalization, local funding for these large-scale projects and a competitive tax code has helped Jacksonville grow at an accelerated rate with more than 100 people moving to the region per day. One of our top takeaways from that trip was that Louisville, and all of Kentucky’s cities, needs more flexibility in creating revenue streams to fund projects and support the needs of their communities.
Will Tax reform help Louisville?Submit your letter to the editor here.
Right now, Kentucky’s Constitution limits the General Assembly from being able to update revenue-raising options at the county and municipal level. Occupational taxes remain the primary revenue generator in Greater Louisville. While the passage of state tax reform in 2022 emphasizes a move from production-based taxes to consumption-based taxes, our local governments are not reaping the same benefits.
GLI has prioritized local tax reform for many years. However, there has never been a more important time to make it a reality. If we are serious about making Louisville and all of Kentucky an economic powerhouse, we cannot afford to kick the can on local tax reform another year or two. Businesses are eager to invest in our region, so the time for building a competitive taxing structure is now.
A few weeks ago, Rep. Jonathan Dixon filed Kentucky House Bill 14, which will set up a voter referendum in November, and if approved by the majority of Kentuckians will amend Section 181 of the State Constitution to allow the General Assembly to create parameters in which a county, city, town or municipality could review and revise taxing structures. We strongly encourage the General Assembly to pass this measure and give Kentuckians the freedom and tools needed to create new local opportunities for investment.
Condrad Daniels is the president of HJI Supply Chain Solutions and Chair of the Greater Louisville Inc. Board of Directors. Sarah Davasher-Wisdom is president and CEO of Greater Louisville Inc.
Baltimore officials approved a program that would sell city-owned vacant homes for as little as $1.
The city’s Board of Estimates voted on the program during a meeting on Wednesday morning, despite pushback from City Council President Nick Mosby.
The board passed the new pricing structure for city-owned vacant homes on the “Buy Into BMore” website in a four-to-one vote where Mosby was the sole opposition.
Baltimore has over 13,500 vacant properties, nearly 900 of which are owned by the city, according to the Department of Housing and Community Development.
The fixed-price program would only apply to certain city-owned properties, according to a page on DHCD’s website.
Buyers need to promise to fix up the homes
Those purchasing a home in the program must promise to renovate the property and have at least $90,000 to fix it up. Owners must also move in within a year, and stay in the home for five years.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Mosby said the program does not have guardrails written in place that would ensure city residents had priority to buy these homes and won’t be forced out of these neighborhoods when their conditions improve.
“If affordability and affordable home ownership and equity and all of the nice words we like to use are really at the core competency as it relates to property disposition, this is a really bad policy,” Mosby said. “This is a bad policy because it doesn’t protect or prioritize the rights of folks in these communities.”
Who can buy a home for $1?
As part of the program, only individual buyers and community land trusts would be able to purchase the properties for $1. Nonprofits with 50 or fewer employees would pay $1,000 while developers and nonprofits with more than 50 employees would have to pay $3,000.
Delaware can expect more investment in child care.
The state’s Department of Health and Social Services and Gov. John Carney announced funding changes for the sector this week, building on proposals in the governor’s final recommended budget. In that draft spending plan, Carney proposed expanding eligibility for Purchase of Care, subsidized child care, to 200% of the federal poverty level, while creating over 200 additional seats in state-funded pre-K.
Tuesday, he added to those actions:
- Capping family co-payments at 7% of family income, as opposed to 9%, and remove all co-pays for families below 150% of the federal poverty level, according to a press release, looking to see families pay less out-of-pocket for child care.
- Increasing compensated absence days from five to 10, providing child care centers and homes with additional stability and predictability in their budgets.
Delaware budget:Breaking down education funding in Delaware’s proposed 2025 budget
“We know how critical the first five years of a child’s life are to future academic and career success,” said Carney in a statement. “Investing in our youngest learners has been a priority of ours from day one, and these investments further that commitment. I want to thank our child care providers for all they do every day to set our children up for future success.”
The administration has more than doubled investments in Purchase of Care and the Early Childhood Assistance Program, as previously reported. The coming year’s budget proposes investing $83 million in Purchase of Care, alongside $15.7 million in ECAP.
Advocates and providers alike have been pushing for the state to consider raising eligibility to 250%, as previously reported by Delaware Online/The News Journal. This week’s announcement didn’t look to move the needle on eligibility criteria, though aimed at other common concerns. DHSS leaders also already discussed the likelihood of rolling back copays, in a budget hearing late last month.
Early childhood education:Struggle for affordable child care persists in Delaware. That’s for parents and providers
State Sen. Kyle Evans Gay and Sen. Sarah McBride, sponsoring several pieces of legislation at these intersections of Delaware childcare, praised the move.
“Far too many Delaware families either cannot afford the cost of child care or live in a place where child care is scarce or completely inaccessible. This cost crisis facing families is only deepened — especially in Kent and Sussex counties — by the fact that child care providers do not receive the support or funding necessary to operate these critical small businesses,” these lawmakers said in a joint statement.
“It’s up to us to invest heavily in our child care infrastructure, lowering costs for the thousands of families who are simply trying to make ends meet while simultaneously supporting the early educators and providers who serve Delaware families and children.”
Got a story? Kelly Powers covers race, culture and equity for Delaware Online/The News Journal and USA TODAY Network Northeast, with a focus on education. Contact her at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.
NEWPORT – City officials are trying to raise capital to fund over $500 million in needed infrastructure and capital improvements over the next five years, but a county-wide real estate professionals group warned against a recent proposal from the City Council to levy a tax on property sales of more than $2 million, as it might prevent local homeowners looking to sell from doing so.
“Our average price in Newport is about $800,000 and that does not get you much,” Newport County Board of Realtors President Sandi Warner said. “Two million is not a mansion. Two million is just a house.”
The City Council is considering asking its legislative delegation to submit a bill that would allow the city to impose a 3% tax on real estate sales over $2 million, which city administration believes would generate between $4 million and $5 million annually that could be put into a restricted, interest-bearing Resilience and Sustainability Fund.
The proposal received pushback when it was first discussed at a February City Council meeting, leading the council to continue the discussion to this upcoming meeting on March 13. Warner said taxes like these will chill real estate in Newport, which has been in an odd spot recently following the hot sellers market of the past two years.
“It’s an unusual market,” Warner said. “If you have a nice home and you are well-priced, you will probably get two or three offers on it. If you are throwing a number up on the wall just to see if it will stick, the buyers have been in the marketplace for longer now and they are very educated. They are not willing to pay these wild numbers that we did see two or three years ago.”
‘Mansion tax’ in use in other cities
Warner said the type of tax the city is proposing is typically referred to as a mansion tax, as it is a progressive tax on property sales over a certain sum. A handful of states have such a tax in place, but at different thresholds and with different rates. Connecticut’s legislature passed a bill in 2019 imposing a 2.25% conveyance fee on home sales above $2.5 million. New York home sellers have been paying a progressive tax on real estate transactions higher than $1 million since 1989.
In Los Angeles, 58% of residents approved Measure ULA, a 4% transfer fee on estate transactions over $5 million that increases to 5.5% on properties over $10 million, during the 2022 election. The abbreviation stands for “United to House L.A.,” and was established to fund affordable housing projects and provide resources for residents at risk of homelessness. Since then, multiple lawsuits have been filed to argue against the tax, one of which a Superior court judged recently dismissed.
Although the Newport County Board of Realtors has only discussed the issue briefly, Warner said the main concern is the $2 million threshold. Of the 282 properties sold in Newport over the past year, Warner said 10%, or 30 properties, were sold for more than $2 million. This includes single-family homes, multi-family homes, commercial properties and vacant land sales.
Additionally, 455 properties in Newport that were previously assessed as being worth under $2 million are now over that threshold following the most recent reassessment.
“It’s unprecedented the amount of equity that homeowners have in their home in Newport right now,” Warner said. “That’s money that they have. If they decided to sell their home, that could fund an early retirement. That could fund moving out of state. That could fund college educations. There’s a plus side to it. The downside is it is out of reach to purchase in Newport for many locals.”
Other options and a possible battle
Warner suggested a better solution might be to levy a smaller real estate conveyance tax on a wider range of property types. For example, Little Compton’s Agricultural Conservancy Trust is primarily funded through a 4% real estate transfer tax on property sales over $300,000.
If the City Council plans to pass the proposed legislation onto its delegates at the State House, Warner said she expects the statewide RI Association of Realtors to fight it. The association has three active lobbyists working at the State House currently as well as a political action committee, the Realtors PAC of RI, which has contributed campaign funds to Rep. Marvin Abney and Sens. Dawn Euer and Lou DiPalma, all of which are members of the city’s delegation, between 2020 and 2023.
As a trade organization, Warner said the Board will continue to advocate for its industry. However, as a member of the Newport community, she said she sympathizes with the council as it grapples with funding all of its needed infrastructure improvements.
“Nobody wants to be taxed, but… we’re being told is that there is an infrastructure need north of $500 million, and this expense is, I thought well described by Councilor Aramli, not to make Newport shining and new, this is to keep Newport going,” Warner said. “Nobody doesn’t want to pay taxes, we don’t want to see real estate slow down, but how do we raise this money? I don’t know…At some point, we’re going to all have to come together and figure out how to do this.”
Most Michigan homeowners will soon face bigger property tax bills now that a back-to-back 5% hike is set to hit taxable home values in 2024. And yes, you can blame higher inflation for three years of out-of-the ordinary jumps in property taxes.
The latest news is found in a too-often-ignored piece of paper that landed in mailboxes over the past few weeks. The top of that notice states in bold, black letters: “This not a tax bill.”
The tax bill arrives in July. On the notice, though, you’ll see a dollar amount for the change in the taxable value of your home listed on Line 1 of that notice. Your actual property taxes reflect that taxable value as well as the millage rates in your community.
Increases in the taxable value mean you will pay more in property taxes ahead. A box above Line 1 for the taxable value gives an approximate dollar amount for how much your tax bill for 2024 will go up.
How inflation mixes with property taxes in Michigan
Thirty years ago on March 15, 1994, Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment that included authorizing a 6% sales taxes and limiting how high a taxable value on many homes can go up in a given year.
Under what’s often referred to as Proposal A, the taxable value on a primary residence can go up based on the inflation rate in a year or 5%, whichever is less, for many homes. Again, that limit applies if there were no changes in homeownership or major renovations, such as adding a family room or bedroom to the property.
Make no mistake, some homeowners will see much bigger increases in their taxable value in 2024 under some circumstances. If you bought a home — or took on a big construction project, such as adding a bedroom — your taxable value could go up more than that 5% limit.
Many new home buyers regretfully don’t realize that the limit on the taxable value does not apply to the home the year after it is sold. After a sale, the cap is uncapped the year following an ownership transfer of a property. Then, the taxable value will be the same as the state equalized value, which is half of the property’s cash value. New homeowners often pay far more in property taxes than the person who sold them the home if the former owner lived there for 20 years or 25 years.
When inflation was low, it was pretty easy to ignore the notices that come out months before actual summer property tax bills hit in July. But I’ve been writing about the impact of inflation on property tax bills in Michigan since 2022, once inflation exploded after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Homeowners see sizable hikes three years in a row
The hit to Michigan property tax bills has been staggering in recent years.
The inflation rate adjustment for property taxes in Michigan was 3.3% in 2022 — less than a maximum 5% allowed but the highest increase in more than a decade.
The inflation adjustment reached the 5% cap in 2023 — the biggest increase in 28 years. Then, things could have been far worse if that 5% cap wasn’t in place. Michigan homeowners would have been looking at an inflation-driven 7.9% hike for their 2023 tax bills without that cap.
And now, we’re looking at another 5% hike in 2024.
Based on inflation, the 2024 inflation adjustment could have been slightly worse for Michigan homeowners. The actual change in inflation that would have applied to 2024 tax bills was 5.1%, according to the “2024 Guide to Property Taxes & Proposal A” issued by Oakland County. But again, Michigan law puts a 5% cap in place.
One economist predicted trouble ahead
Patrick Anderson, CEO of the Anderson Economic Group consulting firm in East Lansing, has been warning for the past few years that inflation would lead to a few rounds of significant hikes in taxable values for Michigan homeowners.
A year ago, Anderson told me that he’d expect another big hike — possibly another 5% round — in property taxes in 2024, thanks to persistently stubborn inflation.
“I’ve been annoyingly accurate on this,” Anderson told me by phone Monday.
Anderson, who was part of the effort to adopt Proposal A in the 1990s, said property values could have gone up much faster in recent years without that 5% cap, and many people, particularly retirees, could end up being unable to afford to live in their homes if some protections weren’t in place under Proposal A.
What will happen to the taxable value for most Michigan homes in 2025? Only time — and more inflation data — can give us a clear picture now. We don’t know yet how much inflation will remain under control in the months ahead.
Right now, Anderson said, it’s too early to judge how inflation could impact taxable values in Michigan in 2025. Only a few months of the needed inflation data has been reported. But he expects that it’s possible, if the inflation trend continues, that taxable values on homes could go up less than 5% in 2025.
The next inflation rate multiplier for 2025 will take into account consumer price index data for 12 months from October 2023 through September 2024.
The consumer price index for all urban consumers increased 3.1% over the last 12 months through January, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Feb. 13.
The consumer price index for February is scheduled to be released March 12.
Anderson said the rapid rise in inflation, driven by the federal government’s stimulus policies to spur spending during the pandemic, turned into a serious concern for many families.
“I sounded the alarm on this inflation way back in early 2021, and said we’ve got a serious inflation problem,” he said. “It’s not transitory.”
The Federal Reserve, which kept interest rates exceptionally low during the pandemic, only began raising interest rates in March 2022 to cool down inflation. Then, the Fed drove the federal funds rate from a pandemic-stimulus low of nearly 0% to a range between 0.25% to 0.5%.
Ultimately, the Fed raised rates 11 times to address inflation from March 2022 through July 2023.
Anderson said the Fed seemed to get the message in 2023 and has been much more disciplined.
While the federal government “continues to spend in an uncontrollable manner,” Anderson said, the huge excess spending by the federal government during the pandemic seems to be in the rearview mirror now. One possible inflationary push, he said, could be the Biden administration’s drive to continue forgiving billions of dollars in federal student loan debt.
Many economists expect that the Fed will hold steady at its upcoming March 19-20 meeting, keeping the benchmark federal funds rate in the 5.25% to 5.5% range. The short-term rate has been in that range since July. The federal funds rate now sits at the highest level in 22 years.
In remarks Monday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said the Fed could likely approve two quarter-point rate cuts by the end of this year. Bostic noted that “January inflation readings came in surprisingly high, the latest reminder that the path to price stability is not a straight line.”
Bostic said that business leaders seem ready for a boost in demand once rates start being cut. He stated that the “threat of what I’ll call pent-up exuberance is a new upside risk that I think bears scrutiny in coming months.”
Anderson said the Fed’s interest rate policy seems fairly clear at this point. The Fed wants to make sure that interest rates aren’t cut rapidly and inflation doesn’t soar again. Typically, he said, the Fed doesn’t want to make big moves during an election year to avoid the impression that they’re meddling or choosing sides.
“They are going to be slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly reducing interest rates,” Anderson said.
No one should get their hopes up, he said, that there’s going to be a big cut in rates in 2024.
Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X (Twitter) @tompor.
After reviewing Springfield’s revenues and tax base, a consulting firm working with the city warns that additional investment in new and existing infrastructure is needed.
Urban3, along with urban planning firm Multistudio, has been tasked with leading an effort to update city code to align with the Forward SGF comprehensive plan. Ahead of a public presentation on the costs of development and their impacts on the fiscal sustainability of the city Thursday night at the Springfield Art Museum, Phillip Walters, Urban3 project manager, shared the findings at a media preview.
Current infrastructure is aging, in need of investment
Walters compared a city to a corporation where residents are both owners and customers since infrastructure that Springfieldians use comes out of city coffers — and ultimately citizens’ pockets.
Most roads in Springfield were built in the 1960s through 1980s, meaning the maintenance work and the need to rebuild roads that were built in the 1970s is quickly approaching and will require more work in the future. Springfield has 1,900 lane miles of roads — by comparison, the entire length of Route 66 stretches 2,400 miles. This comes down to 26 feet of road to be maintained per person living in Springfield.
“As a community you’ve got to keep paying for these things,” Walters said.
The city currently spends about $48 million annually on road maintenance, but the amount needed to keep roads at the level of quality acceptable to most people is almost double that, at $80 million.
In addition to roads, Springfield has miles and miles of stormwater and wastewater infrastructure. Combined, these pipes stretch 3,000 miles. The current wastewater maintenance investment of $61 million a year is close to the $77 million total needed every year, in part because wastewater is operated as a utility with service charges. Stormwater maintenance, meanwhile, needs $15 million, more than double the current $6 million a year that is budgeted, according to Urban3 findings.
“You don’t have to spend this tomorrow, some of these pipes are so new that they’re not gonna get to that rebuild (phase) for another 20, 30, 40 years,” Walters said. “But that is sort of the stable mature cost of the system you already have.”
In the overall city budget, wastewater makes up 13% of costs and roads 9%. Springfield relies heavily on sales taxes for revenue, yet only a small portion of these revenues go to Public Works and the wastewater system. Walters said in total, city infrastructure needs an additional $64 million annually to maintain the systems serving the city at the desired quality.
Stormwater infrastructure carries about 14 billion gallons of runoff each year. Walters suggested that to reduce the cost of maintenance and upkeep of this system, trees can provide a solution. Trees can be a way to extend pervious areas and intercept water above ground when it rains and absorb it below groundm, reducing the strain on the pipes and extending their lifetime. While trees cost money, the benefit outweighs that price — it’s much cheaper than pipe work, he said, in addition to adding to the green spaces of the city.
Making money to pay for infrastructure
At Urban3’s first part of the Forward SGF presentation in November, Joe Minicozzi focused on the value of development per acre it uses. Downtown and Historic Commercial Street were examples of mixed-use development that has the most value for Springfield, compared to sprawling shopping centers and malls.
Infrastructure is up to the city to pay for, but in order to make money to support that infrastructure, Minicozzi pointed to the need to invest in and promote developments that are the most valuable and productive for the city. Further expansion will only continue to drive those costs up with less revenue coming in per acre.
“There’s more than one way you could address this potential shortfall, and one of them is to think a little bit differently about simply the way you choose to use your land and what that actually does to your infrastructure systems,” Walters said.
When it comes to zoning, unsurprisingly Walters said residentially zoned areas bring in the least amount of revenue. This is because local property taxes make up a very small portion of Springfield’s revenue. When it comes to more commercial and industrial zoning areas, those zoned for mixed use bring in the most revenue and cost the least.
“There’s a lot of stuff, 80% of the stuff, is not generating the revenue that it takes to cover its costs,” he said noting how prominent residential zoning is in Springfield.
Applying the information in the reports
The consultants’ findings offer the public and city leaders a look at the current fiscal situation in Springfield and opportunities moving forward as the city begins the code update process. The quantitative data on costs and revenues is only a part of what will be considered. Randall Whitman, principal planner with the city’s Planning and Neighborhoods Team, said the qualitative data — including feedback from the public — is harder to quantify.
“The qualitative side of it is a little bit subjective, and it’s an emotional characteristic. It’s not a positive or negative number that shows up on our ledger,” he said.
Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission will meet Thursday morning for a workshop on the development code updates. A meeting on the topic for Springfield City Council is set for Tuesday, March 5. The goal of the updates is to implement principles and policy recommendations outlined in Forward SGF and support development in the city that benefits both Springfield’s fiscal health and quality of place for its residents.
More:Financial analysis of development highlights places to grow, caution for expansion
Whitman said Multistudio is anticipating having a draft of code updates sometime in April and will build on that swiftly.
“We were targeting to have a substantial completion of the code by the end of the calendar year,” he said. “We recognize that there may be some things we’ve got to come back to next year and clean up, but we’ve got a very aggressive schedule.”
Minicozzi will give a full presentation on the second half of the fiscal analysis to the public Thursday evening at 6-8 p.m. at the Springfield Art Museum. To view his previous presentation and learn more about the process visit www.ForwardSGF.com.
Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Contact her with tips at mmieze@news-leader.com.
Germantown residents looking to sell their homes now face a new fee: $100 for a sidewalk inspection.
A new sidewalk policy that took effect Jan. 1 requires Germantown homeowners to address sidewalk repairs before any sale or transfer of ownership of any property can happen within the city limits.
Cameron Ross, Germantown’s director of economic and community development, said the policy allows the city to be more proactive by working through property sales to get sidewalk panels checked and replaced if they are deemed a safety hazard.
“The code compliance officers had always dealt with this on a complaint-driven approach, so more reactive,” Ross said. “So, now this brings them to us in a different way, and we can have these issues fixed as part of property transfers.”
Ross said Germantown spent more than $100,000 last year repairing sidewalks around the city, with some of those repairs in front of private property. He said the cost for repairs is transferred back to the property owner, and, if not paid, it is applied to their taxes or put as a lien on their property.
“That’s not how we really want to accomplish this, and we want to work with our residents and not in an adversarial fashion,” Ross said. “This is one way to do it, but when a code officer goes out to perform one of these sidewalk inspections, they’re also looking at sidewalks in the general area, and issuing courtesy notices to those properties to also know they need to fix their sidewalks.”
Damaged sidewalks an issue in Germantown
Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo said addressing sidewalk maintenance has come up at times over the years because the city has received a lot of complaints about uneven sidewalks.
Ross said 65% of the sidewalk inspections that the city has done in the past month have required some sort of repair, either caulking or panel replacement.
“There is an issue out there, and so this is again, a proactive way to get these repairs done that isn’t through city resources that can be applied elsewhere and working with property owners through property transfers,” he said.
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Taking a page from another Memphis suburb
Germantown’s adoption of a sidewalk inspection for homeowners follows what Bartlett has done for almost 30 years.
Trey Arthur, Bartlett’s director of code enforcement, said in an email to The Commercial Appeal that the city has been performing sidewalk inspections since 1997. According to Arthur, Bartlett charges $37 for a sidewalk inspection. Bartlett’s property maintenance ordinance states that all damaged sidewalks must be repaired by homeowners before the transfer of property.
Palazzolo said Germantown wanted to do something that has been working in Bartlett and bring it to its Memphis suburb.
“Bartlett ordinance says that when a property transfers, or when a person goes to sell their house, the sidewalk has to be inspected and comply to the city ordinances, or the person cannot close on that transaction,” Palazzolo said. “Obviously, both the seller and buyer have an incentive to want to get to closing and now there is a fixed sidewalk, which benefits all parties. This allows our city to leverage our code compliance officers because about 40 to 50 houses a month are (sold) in our city.”
Germantown’s sidewalk inspection details
There is a fee of $100 for each sidewalk inspection in Germantown. An application is available at the Economic and Community Development Office, 1920 S. Germantown Road.
No sidewalk inspection is mandatory for the sale of condominiums or homes without sidewalks. Ross noted if a panel has to be replaced, then the sidewalk inspection is valid for a year.
“If a [home] sale falls through and a person has to relist the property, they won’t have to come back in for another year if they’ve replaced it,” Ross said. “Also, if they’ve caulked it or the panel didn’t require any repair or replacement, then the permit is good for six months.”
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Getting the word out to Realtors and Germantown residents
Palazzolo acknowledged the new sidewalk inspection program is something people in Germantown are still getting used to in the city. He said Alderman Jon McCreery recently spoke at a Crye-Leike Realtors meeting, outlining the sidewalk policy change.
Memphis Area Association of Realtors President Scott Bettis told The Commercial Appeal that the organization hasn’t taken a position on the sidewalk policy change in Germantown, but understand that it has to comply to whatever is happening in the area.
“Some of our members have been through the process already, and it wasn’t terribly cumbersome for them,” Bettis said. “We just have to be aware of it, help guide our sellers and understand it’s going to be part of the transaction like everything else we assist with in getting houses sold.
“For quite a while, Bartlett has had a very similar sidewalk ordinance, and we’ve successfully been able to work with it in Bartlett for years. I don’t look for it to be too impactful, but it’s just making sure the word gets out to both residents and our whole Realtor community.”
Ross said Germantown is continuing to educate and work with the local real estate community.
“We’re speaking to local [real estate] offices that invite us, and we’re looking for invitations because we don’t have a comprehensive list,” he said. “We’re working with Memphis Area Association of Realtors to help us get the word out, and we’re putting together with them another opportunity to speak with agents.”
Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.
New Jersey officials are tired of your old furnavce and boiler.
This month, they joined those from eight other states in setting a shared goal to have electric heat pumps provide roughly two-thirds of all residential-scale heating, air conditioning and water heating by 2030. By 2040, the goal is 90%.
The aim is to “reduce the carbon footprint of buildings,” which generate tens of millions of metric tons of CO2e greenhouse gases a year, said New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette.
Buildings are the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey. They rank only behind vehicles, state reports say. In New York State, they are the largest.
“Implementing zero-emission concepts such as these into our homes and daily lives is integral to addressing the worsening effects of climate change,” LaTourette said. “This effort will benefit our economy, create jobs and contribute to healthy air.”
Heat pumps have already surpassed gas furnaces in sales in the U.S. Unlike gas furnaces, which burn natural gas and contribute to climate change, heat pumps operate by transferring heat from outdoor air into indoor spaces.
Advanced heat pumps can efficiently extract warmth from the air to heat homes even in freezing temperatures. Some can be used to provide hot water and cool buildings by reversing the process.
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As electric systems, heat pumps can run off renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. When running off the power grid, they can still offer significant cost savings for consumers.
A 2022 report from Acadia Center found that electrification of heating systems could bring reductions of 20% or more to the average New Jersey homeowner’s utility bills. The report, commissioned by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, found that adding electric appliances and winterization strategies along with heat pumps could cut bills in half.
New Jersey and the eight other states pushing heat pumps — California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island — plan to collaborate on various initiatives, including pursuing federal funding for incentives and promoting the installation of zero-emission, grid-interactive technologies in existing state buildings.
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The states agreed in a memorandum of understanding that at least 40% of efficiency and electrification investments should benefit “low-income households facing high energy burdens and communities historically burdened with elevated air pollution levels,” said a press release issued Feb. 7.
The states’ efforts coincide with recent federal commitments to support heat pump adoption. Last November, federal officials allocated $169 million for domestic heat pump production. Rebates and tax credits have also been offered to households making the switch to thermally efficient heat pumps and heat pump water heaters.
By tracking sales and collaborating with heat pump manufacturers, the states aim to stimulate production to meet the increasing demand. However, challenges remain, particularly in training enough technicians to install and maintain heat pump systems, said officials from the Building Decarbonization Coalition. The memorandum emphasizes the importance of workforce development and contractor training to ensure a skilled workforce capable of meeting installation demands.
A statement from the Building Decarbonization Coalition said a greater focus on workforce development, consumer education and affordability will be critical to the success of the transition. The memorandum nonetheless sends an “unmistakable signal to the marketplace that zero-emission homes are the future,” added Matt Rusteika, the coalition’s director of market transformation.
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To address vehicle emissions, state officials have been setting other deadlines. Last November, officials announced a new rule that will prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Other states in the heat pump union — California, Maryland, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island — have adopted similar rules.
New Jersey’s rule, which went into effect on Jan. 1, will not prohibit the ownership or use of gasoline-powered cars come 2035. Consumers will also be able to drive new gasoline-powered light-duty vehicles purchased out of state, emissions standards aside.