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Bellbrook council adopts updated tax-abatement program expanding map and adding new-construction terms
Summary
On March 10, 2025, Bellbrook City Council adopted Ordinance 2025-O-04 to repeal and replace Chapter 8.90 of the Bellbrook Municipal Code, expanding the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) map and adding new-construction exemptions while retaining existing remodeling thresholds.
Bellbrook City Council on March 10 adopted Ordinance 2025-O-04, repealing and replacing Chapter 8.90 (tax abatement program) of the Bellbrook Municipal Code to expand the city’s Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) and add new-construction exemption terms.
The ordinance, enacted after a public hearing, revises the CRA boundaries to include additional acreage downtown and toward the city’s southern and eastern corporate limits and adds new-construction eligibility: seven-year exemptions for residential new construction and up to 15-year exemptions for commercial and industrial new construction. The council kept the existing remodeling thresholds unchanged: $2,500 minimum for family residences of two units or fewer and $5,000 minimum for dwellings of more than two units and commercial/industrial properties.
Miss Grant, a city staff presenter, summarized the proposed changes and described the owner application steps: property owners would file a pre-application with cost estimates, then a post-application with final costs for city review and county certification; the process also requires notifying the school board. "We had spoken about this previously. These changes are to modernize and make the CRA more accessible to homeowners," Miss Grant said during the presentation.
Council members who spoke in favor said the program is intended as a long-term investment to support downtown rehabilitation and encourage property owners to reinvest in older structures. Councilmember Greenwood noted local examples of successful rehabs and told colleagues that bankers have lending products that can be paired with abatement incentives.
Council took no public comments in opposition during the hearing and moved to adopt the ordinance during the same meeting. The formal vote recorded affirmative votes from the six council members present, and the ordinance was declared adopted.
The city will implement the updated CRA procedures by accepting pre- and post-applications and coordinating certification with the county and notification to the school board. Property owners who want to pursue abatement should plan to provide cost estimates in the pre-application and documented costs in the post-application for city certification.
The municipal finding language attached to the ordinance cites Article 18, Section 3 of the Ohio Constitution as authority for municipal regulation and states that the council acted in open meeting in compliance with Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code.
