Members of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, or OCIDA, approved a revision of its tax exemption policy Thursday that they say will spur development.
OCIDA Chair Pat Hogan said developers are facing high material and labor costs, and potential tax breaks could encourage them to get building.
"We are on a precipice of a housing crisis, and we have to start building housing to welcome all these new people to come into Onondaga County,” Hogan said.
Hogan said developers have been telling him about the hurdles they’re facing.
"There is a real problem getting money for housing, a real problem,” he said. “You go to any kind of a lender, a bank or anything like that, you're talking 8.5- 10.5 percent. Plus, you've got material costs, and you've got labor costs. And what we're finding out is that they're reticent about attempting a lot of housing, where maybe 10-15 years ago, they would've done it."
But some town and village officials are raising concerns about an influx of people without the tax revenue to support additional services.
Onondaga County Legislator Dan Romeo (D-District 7) said he supports the efforts to bring more housing into the community. He just wants to ensure it’s done appropriately.
"I think that it came on quickly, so I think we have to have further discussion going forward to making sure that everybody's on the same page with what this looks like and what it's going to do for the local municipalities,” Romeo said. “I look forward to having those conversations to making sure that there's clear communication across the board."
Hogan said OCIDA will look at each proposal individually.
"Every project's going to come before us, and every project has to have a public hearing, so just because we change a lot of things in our uniform tax exemption policy, (we’re still looking at) one project at a time," he said.
Under the new policy, OCIDA plans to prioritize housing projects that will meet areas of high need in the community, like homes for young families and senior citizens.
