Explanation
In 2016 and 2017, the City of Columbus commissioned a study from HR&A on the effectiveness of the City’s economic development incentives, including real property tax abatements in Community Reinvestment Areas (“CRAs”). Based on the results of the study, the City revised its policies concerning CRA abatements, and decided to encourage the development of affordable housing by conditioning the provision of CRA abatements, in certain circumstances, on the inclusion of affordable housing.
In July 2018, City Council passed ordinance 2184-2018, adopting Chapter 4565 of the Columbus City Codes to require certain persons seeking CRA abatements in Post-1994 CRAs to meet certain affordable housing requirements as set forth therein.
Pursuant to Chapter 4565, the affordable housing requirements applicable to any particular development project depends on whether the CRA in which the project will be constructed is designated as Market Ready, Ready for Revitalization, or Ready for Opportunity (the “area designations”). Generally speaking, the area designations reflect the extent to which housing within the CRA is blighted. Development projects located in areas with less blight must satisfy higher affordable housing requirements in order to receive the abatement.
Pursuant to Chapter 4565, the area designation assigned to each CRA must be reassessed every three years. This code change will alter the reassessment dates going forward to ensure that uniform review dates are applied to all CRAs.
In addition to amending the tri-annual reassessment dates, this code change will modify the affordable housing requirements to receive a CRA abatement in Market Ready, Ready for Revitalization, and Ready for Opportunity areas. The Ordinance adopting the code change will set forth transition timelines for projects to qualify for a CRA abatement under terms established prior to the passage of this Ordinance.
Title
To amend Chapter 4565 of the Columbus City Codes to alter the af...
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