Cincinnati's LEED Property Tax Abatement: How? Why? Results?
CINCINNATIANS SHARE CITY’S GREEN SUCCESS IN CHICAGO Council Member Laure Quinlivan, green building consultant Paul Yankie and green education advocate Chuck Lohre presented on Cincinnati’s success building LEED at a conference in Chicago on September 9, 2013. The U.S. Green Building Council's regional Greening the Heartland conference and exhibition in Chicago featured the presentation "Cincinnati's LEED Property Tax Abatement: How? Why? Results?" The three green activists shared the secret to Cincinnati’s success as the city with more LEED certified buildings per capita than any in the region. The secret is the smart 15-year LEED property tax abatement that Cincinnati Council passed in 2007 and tweaked in 2012, sparking the rehabilitation or construction of 184 LEED-certified buildings. Cincinnati has a total of more than 500 LEED certified residential units. The LEED levels of the City of Cincinnati’s 184 green buildings are: Platinum – 6 Gold – 25 Silver – 84 Certified – 69 Council Member Laure Quinlivan built a LEED Gold home in 2011. In 2012, she authored a change to the city’s tax abatement to incentivize higher levels of green building. Chuck Lohre’s office is LEED Platinum. Cincinnati’s program is one of the most progressive in the nation and is responsible for millions of dollars in residential and commercial investment during the recession that would otherwise not have occurred. Commercial buildings receive a 12-year, 75% property tax abatement for LEED Silver, Gold, or Platinum certifications. Videos in the presentation illustrate how residential and commercial projects were built in Cincinnati versus other communities, and the benefits to the city including increased property taxes on the land, construction jobs, construction material sales, income tax generating residents, commercial jobs and revitalized neighborhoods. The presentation is available in long or short versions for Cincinnati community council and other civic meetings, professional association events and municipalities. Contact Chuck Lohre, 513-260-9025, chuck@lohre.com. Chuck Lohre, chuck@lohre.com, President, LEED AP Green Cincinnati Education Advocacy, LEED Platinum Headquarters, http://www.green-cincinnati.com 126A West 14th Street, 2nd Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45202-7535 877-608-1736, 513-961-1174, Cell 513-260-9025, Fax 513-961-1192
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Cincinnati's LEED Property Tax Abatement: How? Why? Results?
- 1. CINCINNATIANS SHARE CITY’S GREEN SUCCESS IN CHICAGO Council Member Laure Quinlivan, green building consultant Paul Yankie and green education advocate Chuck Lohre presented on Cincinnati’s success building LEED at a conference in Chicago on September 9, 2013. The U.S. Green Building Council's regional Greening the Heartland conference and exhibition in Chicago featured the presentation "Cincinnati's LEED Property Tax Abatement: How? Why? Results?" The three green activists shared the secret to Cincinnati’s success as the city with more LEED certified buildings per capita than any in the region. The secret is the smart 15-year LEED property tax abatement that Cincinnati Council passed in 2007 and tweaked in 2012, sparking the rehabilitation or construction of 184 LEED-certified buildings. Cincinnati has a total of more than 500 LEED certified residential units. The LEED levels of the City of Cincinnati’s 184 green buildings are: Platinum – 6 Gold – 25 Silver – 84 Certified – 69 Council Member Laure Quinlivan built a LEED Gold home in 2011. In 2012, she authored a change to the city’s tax abatement to incentivize higher levels of green building. Chuck Lohre’s office is LEED Platinum. Cincinnati’s program is one of the most progressive in the nation and is responsible for millions of dollars in residential and commercial investment during the recession that would otherwise not have occurred. Commercial buildings receive a 12-year, 75% property tax abatement for LEED Silver, Gold, or Platinum certifications. Videos in the presentation illustrate how residential and commercial projects were built in Cincinnati versus other communities, and the benefits to the city including increased property taxes on the land, construction jobs, construction material sales, income tax generating residents, commercial jobs and revitalized neighborhoods. Laure Quinlivan, Paul Yankie and Chuck Lohre will give the presentation again at Cincinnati’s 3E Summit, http://www.3esummitcincinnati.org/, Nov 22, 2013 at Xavier University’s Cintas Center. It is also available in long, http://www.slideshare.net/ChuckLohre/cincinnati-leed-presentation-9- 2813/, or short versions for Cincinnati community council and other civic meetings, professional association events and municipalities. Contact Chuck Lohre, 513-260-9025, chuck@lohre.com.
- 2. Chuck Lohre, chuck@lohre.com, President, LEED AP Green Cincinnati Education Advocacy, LEED Platinum Headquarters, http://www.green-cincinnati.com 126A West 14th Street, 2nd Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45202-7535 877-608-1736, 513-961-1174, Cell 513-260-9025, Fax 513-961-1192 Chuck Lohre, Clifton; Laure Quinlivan, Mt. Lookout; and Paul Yankie, Over-The -Rhine
Editor's Notes
- Perry Bush Homes, Citirama Cincinnati
- Keystone Parke, Dan Neyer Properties
- BALTIMORE HAS 100% ABATEMENT FOR FIVE YEARS. CLEVELAND HAS 100% FOR 15 YEARS, BUT THE STANDARD IS NOT JUST LEED, AND THEREFORE HAS HAD MIXED RESULTS.
- No need to demonstrate economic need to receive LEED
- My options: spend more than 250,000 to rehab and still have problem areas in home, or tear it down and build an energy efficient home in its place and stay in neighborhood
- All 7 LEED homes sold, great solution to urban infill.
- Add Laure’s notes: Commercial units that have more than 4 units count as one, The Banks for example
- Add Laure’s notes: Commercial units that have more than 4 units count as one, The Banks for example
- CHANGE IS YOU GET A BETTER TAX BREAK FOR GOING TO HIGHER LEVELS OF LEED, BECAUSE THAT’S A BIGGER INVESTMENT AND YOU SHOULD BE REWARDED FOR GOING AS HIGH AS YOU CAN.
- BASIC LEED CERTIFIED YOU ONLY GET 275,000 FOR 15 YEARS….SILVER IT’S UP TO 400,000 AND GOLD IS 562,000….NO LIMIT ON AMOUNT FOR PLATINUM Commercial changes: No tax abatement for Certified
- I’ll give you three tips. TIP #1: You start by thinking big. There’s a study by a University of Cincinnati Doctorial candidate that is in the process of being published that researched the available green building incentive programs currently in place across the US and assessed their effectiveness based on adoption rates of the programs. And the results are exactly what we see when we talk to our raters across the country. Bigger is better. Reduced permit fees, expedited processing, small tax credits/rebates that can hardly pay for an upgraded water heater even if you qualify to use them have little effect. Tax abatements on the other hand…
- Tip #2 – MAKE IT EASY! ON EVERYBODY!. The Developers, The City, The Homeowner, EVERYBODY! Now I’ll grant you, that this looks pretty complicated. But with a closer look, you’ll see that this is a similar process that most every community goes through to grant some sort of economic incentive to the latest greatest project being developed. The green piece just adds one step that takes an additional 14 days to complete. And in the case of commercial projects, it actually saves time for the both the city administration and the developer. That’s the point. It has to or this program never takes off.
- Residential – SIMPLE. Commercial – SIMPLER. Financial Analysis is no small amount of work, on the front end of the project with no guarantee, for the developer. They are happy to skip it.
- TIP #3: PROMOTE WELL & PROMOTE OFTEN. EX. Columbia Township. Use everyone to promote. Media, your builders/developers, residents. EVERYONE
- First of all, you don’t have to pick just one. But it might not be the worst idea to start. Take Cleveland for Example… But if you go this route make sure that your structure does not create unintended consequences.
- Our very own Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District is in the midst of a $3 Billion federally mandated Consent Decree involving the construction of new, separated sewer infrastructure, enhanced treatment capacity at MSD’s wastewater treatment plants, and installation of rainwater source controls. Other communities are watching this and wondering where the money would come from.
- Already get 10 years
- Point #1 – There is some historical reference for this. Point#2 – Ex. My house & Potterhill/Hueber Point#3 – Next Slide
- There are always critics. Ours is the county auditor. But you’ll hear from a developer who’s made a multi-million dollar investment in LEED multi-unit buildings that he would not have made without the tax break.
- Current residential tax abatement