Mount Pleasant City Commission postpones creation of tax abatement district
Mount Pleasant officials are not ready to move forward just yet with the creation of a tax abatement district along Pickard Street.
The district would be a place where taxes to business owners are reduced for a specific period of time, presumably to encourage business.
City Commissioners held a public hearing at their Monday meeting, where Brian Anderson from P&A Development, LLC spoke in support of establishing the tax abatement district between 560 and 614 Pickard St.
Several commissioners were skeptical of the idea.
“Recent studies have indicated we’ve read too much into them,” said Commissioner Kathy Ling.
The commission voted 5-0 to postpone a decision. Mayor Jim Holton excused himself from the vote, since his business, the Mount Pleasant Brewing Company, is within the proposed district. Vice Mayor Bruce Kilmer was not in attendance.
P&A Development proposed the properties along Pickard Street would become a 12-year, 50 percent tax abatement district.
Commissioner Sharon Tilmann said she supports the general idea of the districts, but was not sure one would be the best idea locally right now.
“I’m at the point where I’ve always supported them ... but some of the reports ... state that some of these abatements are becoming a thing of the past,” she said. “I do think we owe it to our constituents that we hold ourselves accountable for what we do up here.”
Other business
The commission approved a one-year lease with Airport Road Real Estate, LLC for property currently used by Pohlcat, 6595 E. Airport Road. The leased land, which contains holes 1 and 2 of the golf course, is owned by the city, but is usually leased in 10-year increments. The current lease ends Sunday.
Tilmann had concerns regarding the location of the property, which she said could be within close range of the Chippewa River, which changes the way the city leases property.
“There will be individuals out there that will say it’s a cause for concern,” she said. “They are going to ask, ‘what about the 100 feet of the river?’”
Duane Ellis, director of public works, said there are no issues with the property and the river.
“It’s away from the river,” he said. “It’s not adjacent to that property.”
The commission also postponed approving a loan to Total Eclipse Design, 110 E. Broadway St., through the revolving loan program.
