Recently, The City of Lynchburg made important updates to the Real Estate Rehabilitation Program. The new updated version of the program takes effect on January 1, 2018 and will apply to multiple housing units throughout the city. Read below to learn more about changes made as well as details on eligibility.
Overview of Real Estate Rehabilitation Program
The Real Estate Rehabilitation Program offers a tax credit opportunity to individuals or companies planning to renovate residential, multi-family (consisting of 5 or more units), commercial and industrial property or properties. The city offers this incentive to help owners who want to improve the fair market assessment value of their property as well as to support ongoing job creation efforts for commercial and industrial structures throughout the City. Though the city awards this tax exemption to qualifying properties, it should be noted that this program does not freeze taxes. Rather, the tax exemption is subtracted from the structure’s assessed fair market value before taxes are calculated.
Real Estate Rehabilitation Program Updates
The updates to the program primarily pertain to time period changes. The new changes will not affect those who are current participants or applicants. The updates are as follows:
- Residential: The residential rehabilitation time period is adjusted from 15 years to 10 years. This has changed because the program observed most renovations were able to be completed within a 10 year period.
- Multi-Family: The multi-family rehabilitation time period is adjusted from 15 years to 8 years. Multi-family properties will be reclassified from residential to commercial.
- Commercial and Industrial: The commercial and industrial rehabilitation time period is adjusted from 5 years to 10 years. This is being changed in an effort to provide safer means of construction for current workers as well as support job creation in these sectors.
Eligibility Requirements
To gauge your property’s eligibility, your structure must adhere to certain guidelines. For residential and multi-family structures, you must own the property outright. Additionally, the structure must be 50 years or older and improvements made must increase the assessed value to 40 percent or more. For commercial and industrial structures, the property must be 25 years or older and improvements made must increase the assessed value to 60 percent or more.
If you would like to learn more about the program or how to apply, please visit the City Assessor’s page. Additionally, if you have any questions you can contact the City Assessor at (434) 255-3830.