Butler County commissioners directed staff to prepare a standard template for Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) abatements and to notify cities and other taxing entities of the county's participation terms, county staff said. The direction followed a detailed staff briefing on the size and growth of local abatements and proposals from El Dorado and other cities that include 15- and 20-year rebate terms.

County staff said the program currently covers an assessed valuation reduction of about $8,650,000 in property, which the county estimated equals roughly $289,000 in county taxes (about 0.27 mills). Leanne, the county employee who administers ERP/NRP applications, told the commission, “Right now, there's 488 active participants in the program. There's a 116 that are so far pending that should go in for 2026.”

The numbers matter because several cities have proposed longer abatements that staff described as atypical compared with an IRB statutory approach that generally limits some abatements to 10 years. Staff recommended narrowing participation to residential and commercial projects and a 10-year maximum when the county participates. “I can't recommend you support the 15-year and 20-year abatements,” the staff member who introduced the discussion told the commission.

County staff listed cities with active plans (El Dorado, Douglas, Augusta, Andover and Rose Hill) and noted El Dorado had proposed longer terms for historic downtown and multifamily rehabilitation. Staff explained the county's practice: the county can decline to participate in a city's plan, but cannot prevent a city from adopting its own plan; participation is a separate interlocal agreement and, if the county participates, the cities typically include a 5% administrative rebate intended to compensate county administration. Staff warned that if the county declines to participate, some cities could retain that 5% for other entities.

Commissioners asked staff to draft a standardized template and return with it for consideration; staff said it would notify the college and school districts to solicit their decisions. The county also said it would publish the template to help smaller cities that lack technical capacity. Staff proposed returning to the commission with a draft in roughly three weeks and to pursue a formal recommendation for county participation.

Why it matters: an expanded or loosely defined abatement program reduces property tax revenue to the county and to overlapping taxing entities while shifting the administrative burden to county staff. The commission's action is a procedural direction to standardize terms before approving future county participation.

The discussion did not adopt a new policy at the meeting; it directed staff to prepare the template and notify affected entities for later action.