BY STEPHANIE BRIEN
stephanie.brien@journaltimes.com | Posted: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 12:00 am
RACINE - Two aldermen want to offer free land and lower taxes to city, county and school employees, to attract them to the city.
Aldermen Aron Wisneski and Terry McCarthy have been talking about how the city does not have a residency requirement for its employees. Instead of forcing employees to move to the city, the two of them started talking about incentives, Wisneski said.
Under their proposed program, City of Racine, Racine County and Racine Unified School District employees could receive a free deed to certain city-owned land if they promise to build a new home and live there for five years. The employees would also pay lower property taxes for their first five years.
It would be available for employees who currently rent or live outside the city, according to the proposed ordinance.
If someone is looking to build a home, "maybe we can create an incentive and sweeten the deal," Wisneski said.
Racine Director of City Development Brian O'Connell said the city only has a few residential properties, less than 10, which would qualify for this program.
These are homes that the city acquired through tax foreclosure or because they were deemed nuisance properties, Wisneski said.
"This is a start," he added.
He wants to hear comments from other aldermen and also study the feasibility of the program.
Wisneski said possibly the city would expand the program to provide incentives for employees to move into any home in the city.
He is also interested in studying the possibility of creating small tax incremental financing districts, where homebuyers could receive benefits for moving into the city if they make improvements to the home.
Small TIF districts could be possible, O'Connell said, but the city would need to do a cost-benefit analysis to make sure it would be worth it because there is a $1,000 state fee for every district created.
The proposal is going to the City Plan Commission for consideration at its meeting scheduled for 4:15 p.m. July 29.
Houses at a discount
While the city studies new options to get city, county and school employees to move into the city, Director of City Development Brian O'Connell said there are options currently available for some employees.
Under the program Good Neighbor Next Door, a federal Housing and Urban Development program, some city and county employees can already receive 50 percent off houses owned by HUD if they are in revitalization areas, said Lemar Wooley, a HUD spokesman
The employees eligible for the program are law enforcement personnel, teachers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians, he said.
In the City of Racine, HUD owns 16 houses which it has acquired through defaulted loans, according to their online list. However they may not all be in revitalization areas.
To learn more about the federal program go to: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/reo/goodn/main.cfm
To view a listing of the HUD houses in Racine go to: http://www.tenmanagement.com/listings/property-list.do