Commerce City homeowners, homebuilders take advantage of rebates

Council extends city’s economic development incentive program

COMMERCE CITY – Residents looking to get in that last-minute home improvement project for 2010 tax purposes might be interested to know there’s another financial benefit to doing these projects now.

The city’s incentive program, which began in June as a means of boosting the local economy through rebates to businesses and homeowners, has been extended until June 1, 2011. For homeowners, this means a 50-percent rebate of permit fees associated with any home improvement project. Permit fees vary depending on the value of the improvement, but city residents are averaging $80 in rebates. This money comes out of the permit fees paid to the city.

The incentive program has received inquiries from cities around the state and country. City Manager Jerry Flannery and Economic Development Director Brittany Morris were in Atlanta last week sharing details of the program and its successes at a seminar put on by the Atlanta Regional Commission. Flannery and Morris presented the city’s incentive package in the “Innovative Incentives: Attracting Quality Economic Development in a Challenging Economy” workshop.

Since the program began in June, the city has provided more than $500,000 in incentives to businesses and homeowners, garnering national attention in the process.

“We’re honored to share the city’s achievements with our governmental colleagues,” Flannery said. “Commerce City is fortunate to be weathering this economic downturn as well as we are, so we welcome the opportunity to assist other municipalities in any way we can.”

More than 400 homeowners have submitted applications so far, many of them relating to roof repairs, and siding and windows damaged during a hailstorm earlier this year. In describing the rebate as “free money,” one homeowner explained that if a permit fee needs to be paid anyway, a person should spend the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to fill out the incentive application and get some of this money back.

A separate incentive exists for the residential construction industry, allowing homebuilders to take advantage of a $1,500 tax rebate for each new home built in the city once the certificate of occupancy is issued.

“When we started this incentive program last June, we did so merely with the intention of trying to jumpstart the local economy,” said Brittany Morris, Commerce City Economic Development Director. “But the response from the business community and residents has far exceeded our expectations.”

Additional information, eligibility requirements and applications may be found on the Economic Development website, www.c3ed.com; click on “Incentives.” For more information, contact Economic Development at 303-289-3620.