Mayor Justin Bibb and Cleveland City Council’s residential tax abatement revamp hit a last-minute snag, as council members questioned whether the legislation they were voting on reflected the amendments they’d made to it.
Council and the Bibb administration have proposed numerous changes to the ordinance over the course of two committee meetings, describing those amendments verbally at the hearings and writing up the legal changes afterward.
The legislation was supposed to pass Monday night. But on the council floor, members began to point out discrepancies they saw between the amendments they’d agreed to and the language up for a vote.
The discovery derailed council’s typically formulaic meeting for about 20 minutes. Council contemplated making changes to the legislation on the floor – a rarity – as administration officials and Ward 15 Councilwoman Jenny Spencer pored over a paper copy of the ordinance.
“We’re going to hold 482-2022,” a visibly deflated Council President Blaine Griffin eventually said, referring to the legislation by its number. “All council members be aware, we’re going to have to do a special meeting, so I want everybody to be on standby.”
The city’s current tax abatement policy – which grants a 15-year, 100% break on the additional property taxes created by new or renovated housing – expires June 4. With next Monday being Memorial Day, council has run out of regular meetings before the deadline and will have to call a special meeting.
Broadly speaking, the proposal dials back the tax break in hotter real estate markets, while offering more generous incentives in middle-tier and disinvested neighborhoods.
Since the legislation was introduced, council and the administration have tweaked several pieces of the detailed proposal, adjusting the size of the tax break and the level at which it would be capped.
The confusion on the council floor would only further befuddle residents trying to understand how this complex policy would shape their neighborhoods, Ward 12 Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer said.
“There’s some stuff that didn’t quite get from people’s mouths onto the paper,” she said.
Nevertheless, council still understood what they had intended to pass, Maurer added.
“I think we have a genuine opportunity to make it clearer to residents how our process works, how committees work, and how we work together to pass big legislation that has a big impact for the city of Cleveland,” she said.
