Belvedere ends tax breaks for historic properties
Council members cited the excessive administrative of the city's Mills Act program.
Belvedere will no longer give tax breaks to owners of historical houses or properties.
The unanimous vote at the City Council meeting on Monday finalized the end of the Mills Act program. The council cited poor management, staffing issues and financial concerns for the decision.
“It’s been a bit of a journey,” said Councilmember Sally Wilkinson. “I’ve probably been more involved than some of the other council members on assessing this program and have really come to a clear understanding of how difficult it really is to administer. It’s just a mess of a program for the city because of our very constrained resources.”
The program, which relies on a 1976 state law, allows the city to enter into 10-year contracts with owners of historic buildings. The agreements gave owners a property tax reduction to restore, preserve and maintain the sites.
The city has 12 properties under Mills Act agreements, according to a March 11 staff report.
The council initially paused the Mills Act program last summer because of staffing challenges that made it difficult for the city to require active plans or proof of restoration or have an inspection program. The city could not ensure the savings went toward the property’s restoration.
“It’s just a lot of work for very few participants,” Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson said the program is an “administrative nightmare” that the city keeps “messing up” because it does not have a permanent staff member on the program. She added that it might not be equitable to give away those tax revenues — about $78,000 annually for the city — to people who have old homes when those funds could be used for other programs and agencies, such as schools and fire services.
“These aren’t small tax dollars for our small community, they are relatively large,” Wilkinson said.
Vice Mayor Jane Cooper said the decision was hard because those who entered into the Mill Act contracts did it in good faith. She wondered if other departments could oversee the program properly, but noted that it would take time to review the possibility.
“It seems that the reason we have to really face this tough decision is because we haven’t done a good job,” Cooper said.
Rebecca Markwick, director of planning and building for the city, said the discontinuation of the program does not affect the city’s historic preservation committee or its efforts. Residents can still apply for historic designation.
The property owners who have agreements with the city will not have them renewed past their 10-year contract date.
“It represents less than 1% of our budget but benefits less than 0.1% of our people and that’s a very disproportionate benefit at a fairly onerous expense in time and money to the city,” Mayor Jack Ryan said.
Councilmember Jim Lynch was absent from the vote on Monday.