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Bellbrook council introduces rewritten CRA tax-abatement ordinance to encourage downtown redevelopment
Summary
Council introduced Ordinance 2025‑O‑04 to repeal and replace Chapter 8.90 (Community Reinvestment Area) to expand boundaries, add roughly 93 housing units and 102 acres, and set new abatement terms including a staff-recommended seven‑year 100% term for new residential construction; commercial terms remain negotiable up to 15 years.
Bellbrook City Council introduced Ordinance 2025‑O‑04 on the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA), a rewrite of municipal Chapter 8.90 intended to make the city’s tax‑abatement tool more usable for downtown redevelopment. The council moved to introduce the ordinance and the motion carried.
The ordinance would repeal the existing Chapter 8.90 and enact a new version that expands the CRA boundaries to include additional land north and south of downtown, adding about 93 housing units and roughly 102 acres to the designated area. The update also clarifies which types of projects are eligible and creates separate approval paths for residential and commercial projects.
City staff said the changes are intended to give property owners and developers clearer guidance and to increase the number of projects eligible for abatements. “We want to make this update so that it’s a better tool for residents and business owners, to take on projects they might not otherwise embark on,” presenter Mikayla Grant told council. Grant said the new text aligns the city’s rules with the Ohio Revised Code and Greene County tax classifications for multi‑unit structures.
A central change is the treatment of new residential construction. Because the CRA predates 1994, any incentive rate for new construction must be 100% abatement on the incremental tax; council staff recommended limiting the term to seven years to balance incentive strength with fiscal impact. “Staff recommends seven years,” Grant said. The ordinance leaves the maximum allowable term at 15 years but proposes seven years as the working recommendation for new residential construction. For commercial and industrial projects, the ordinance proposes a negotiation process between the property owner and the housing officer (the city manager) and allows abatements of up to 15 years for the increased taxable value caused by improvements.
Other notable provisions: the housing officer may be a designated city staff member; the city will notify the local school board before certifying exemptions to the county auditor; projects within the Old Village District that seek CRA exemptions must first appear before the Village Review Board; and the city will inspect properties receiving CRA exemptions annually and may revoke an exemption for failure to meet maintenance or zoning standards.
Council discussion included questions about timing, county reassessments and how incremental value is calculated for abatements. Grant explained that the county auditor ultimately certifies the increase in taxable value after construction or remodeling and applies the abatement to future tax bills once the city forwards its certification. She also described the city’s pre‑application and post‑application process to document estimated and actual project costs.
A councilmember recused themself from the CRA discussion and left the room; the motion to introduce the ordinance passed with council members present voting in favor. Council directed staff to schedule a public hearing on the ordinance at the next meeting.
If council advances the measure after public hearing, the revised CRA would provide expanded geographic coverage and clearer procedures for property owners seeking tax exemptions tied to redevelopment or rehabilitation.
