Council abates taxes on Bryson Block building

    The Washington City Council unanimously approved the development agreement to rebate property taxes on the Bryson Block building at its meeting Wednesday night. Washington Preservation LLC, the entity that now owns the building at 101 S. Marion Ave., remodeled the building?s offices, apartments and retail space one year ago. The structure is currently home to the Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Washington and the Washington Economic Development Group.

    The agreement reached between the city and Washington Preservation LLC requires the city to rebate the entire property tax increment on the property for the first five years. In other words, Washington Preservation LLC would not pay taxes on the increased value of the property during those five years. For the five years after that, the city would rebate 75 percent of the property tax increment, and then rebate 60 percent for the final 10 years of the agreement.

    Washington Preservation LLC would be entitled to the tax rebates provided it added $200,000 of new taxable value to the property.

    City Administrator Dave Plyman explained that the purpose of the agreement was to revitalize downtown and give property owners an incentive to invest in their property.

    Members of the council made note of the fact that the development agreement is the first of its kind in the downtown area.

    ?There should be a plaque for that,? said council member Fred Stark.

    Fellow councilman Bob Shepherd agreed, saying, ?It has turned into a phenomenal project. It opened people?s eyes to what could be accomplished with a building like that.? 

    The council approved a resolution by a 5-1 vote to provide tax abatement to Washington resident Norm Bruty for the construction of a residential duplex at 1403 and 1405 N. Eighth Ave. Council members Mike Roth, Karen Wilson-Johnson, Russ Zieglowsky, Shepherd and Stark voted for the resolution while Merlin Hagie voted against it. Hagie declined to comment on the vote. 

    Roth said he doesn?t understand why more people do not apply for tax abatement.

    ?I?m surprised we don?t get more of these requests,? said Roth. ?There are tax abatements even on home improvements. I don?t know if the public knows we have a program in place that does that.?

    The council discussed what should be done about the roof of the new public library, which has experienced leaks in recent months. The council decided to delay a scheduled payment of roughly $9,000 to OPN Architects until the firm has fixed the roof.

    Shepherd said that a group of visitors from Virginia went to the library recently and found a ceiling tile that had fallen on the floor from the leaky roof.

For the full story, see the Nov. 19 edition of the Washington Evening Journal.