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Douglas County adopts property-tax rebate program to expand infant/toddler child-care seats
Summary
The county approved a tax-rebate program to encourage licensed child-care providers to add infant and toddler seats: a 75% rebate of the county portion of property tax, plus an additional 25% for programs that serve infants/toddlers; initial funding will use ARPA interest.
Douglas County commissioners voted April 14 to establish a child-care property tax incentive program aimed at increasing infant and toddler care slots. Staff and early-childhood advocates said the program uses state enabling legislation (Senate Bill 2024-02) to rebate local property taxes paid to the county.
Diane Smith, director of the Douglas County Early Childhood Council, described a working group's recommendation: licensed child-care providers would be eligible for a 75% rebate of the county portion of their property tax bill; providers that supply infant and/or toddler seats would receive an additional 25% rebate. Smith said the county will fund the initial year with American Rescue Plan Act interest earned on county ARPA holdings and will require applicants to agree to use the rebate for staff retention, facility health-and-safety upgrades, or other child-care operational needs.
Mark Arbro, owner of Ivy Brook Academy, described rising costs facing providers (insurance increases, property-tax changes) and said some centers have closed in recent years. "If there was only one reason to approve the measure here, to me it's about leveling the playing field between private and public schools," Arbro said, adding the rebate would be used for capacity expansion and staff retention.
Staff described an application process to be administered by the Early Childhood Council, the assessor's office and the finance department; checks would be mailed and the program would be evaluated annually with metrics including changes in licensed capacity and infant/toddler seat counts. Commissioners discussed partnerships with school districts and employers and noted the program is designed to be renewed annually subject to evaluation.
After discussion and no public commenters, the board moved and approved the resolution establishing the program, and asked staff to assist other counties wishing to adopt similar incentives.
Next steps: staff will publish an application (target April/May), convene an evaluation in 12 months, and report outcome metrics to the board.
