FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – The Fairbanks City Council postponed two property-related ordinances for the second time Monday.
In June, Mayor David Pruhs and councilmembers Sue Sprinkle and John Ringstad introduced a series of measures to amend city code in an effort to clean up problem properties within city limits and encourage new development.
One of those three measures, which deals with blighted properties, passed the council in July.
The council had postponed the other two for further consideration, and though they resurfaced again Monday night, the panel of six elected officials still didn’t think they were ready for the spotlight.
The first requires owners of vacant buildings to secure the property and register it with the city.
“In the big picture, I think we need to help support our downtown with working buildings — whether they be commercial or residential — and I’m hoping in the discussion that we are going to ask these building owners to help us help them,” said Councilmember Sue Sprinkle, who cosponsored all three ordinances.
The legislation defines a vacant building as one that’s been unoccupied for 180 days, and it includes both residential and commercial properties.
It would require registrants to pay according to a fee schedule, with no cost in the first year, $250 for the second year and $500 dollars for every year afterward.
Owners who fail to register their property would face a daily penalty of $10, while owners who fail to secure their properties would have to pay the city $300 dollars per day if the issue is not resolved within ten days of notice.
The measure does stipulate some exceptions from the vacant building designation, like structures used seasonally or buildings for sale. On Monday, council members suggested they’d add buildings available for lease as another exception, though no formal amendment inked that change.
“I think we’ve got to be flexible enough to say, ‘Okay, this is clearly a derelict problem here, [but] this is just something where somebody can’t find a tenant and they’re trying to not lose the property until they find a tenant. So I think we’ve got to have the flexibility,” Ringstad, who also cosponsored the legislation, said in favor of delaying the ordinance to a later date.
The second measure postponed Monday aims to incentivize development in the city by instituting a property tax rebate program.
Under the ordinance, construction with costs between $50,000 dollars and $1 million would be eligible for city property tax reimbursements for two years, and construction with costs of $1 million dollars or more could earn the reimbursements for five years.
But some on the council worried the program could muddy the waters for the city budget. That’s because the city’s finance and building departments would coordinate to form educated guesses as to the number of people who would take advantage of the program, meaning the city could over or underestimate how much it will have to pay in reimbursements.
“I think we should wait on this until we see what our budget is for next year,” Councilmember Jerry Cleworth said.
Others also questioned the ordinance’s efficacy.
Ringstad gestured to the lowest end of the program’s spectrum. At $50,000 in construction costs, a two-year exemption would equate to about $600 in property tax reimbursements. He wasn’t sure if that figure would gain enough traction among builders to encourage development.
“I guess I haven’t done enough due diligence to know or feel comfortable thinking that this is going make a difference. And if we’re not going to make a difference, then I don’t think it’s worth doing,” Ringstad said.
On two unanimous votes, the council opted to postpone both ordinances until their Dec. 16 regular meeting. The vacant property measure has not yet advanced to a public hearing; the tax rebate program measure has had a public hearing and will be up for a final vote.
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