A Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) is a common economic development tool that provides an incentive for industrial, commercial, and residential property owners to improve their property through an addition or building a new building or home. The incentive works by giving an abatement (reduction) of the taxes owed on the real property improvements made to the property. Simply put, the owner would pay less in taxes.

For example, if a property owner adds a $20,000 real property addition to their house, such as a sunroom, that would typically add about $300 in property taxes annually. With a CRA, that amount can be abated, saving the homeowner money each year over the abatement term. These savings make improvements and new construction more affordable and provide an incentive for property owners to do projects that otherwise would not happen.

The property owner will always pay the original tax value on their existing property. The only reduced value is on the value of the improvements.

On the residential front, the CRA is intended to grow Gallia County’s permanent population by addressing the shortage of housing for all income levels. The lack of available, affordable, quality housing hinders growth, impacting workforce availability and government tax receipts. With major economic development projects happening throughout the Ohio Valley region bringing thousands of new jobs, this is a crucial tool to incentivizing new residents to live here.

A lack of housing has impacted Gallia County’s growth. Without quality affordable housing, employees and their families will find a residence in other places, preventing them from putting down roots here, paying taxes here, and contributing to the community. For younger people, a lack of rental options and affordable starter homes have led them to leave and build lives elsewhere.

For commercial and industrial projects, the CRA’s goal is to incentivize new job-creating projects, as well as incentivize existing employers to expand their operations and retain employees. Job-creating commercial and industrial projects commonly seek tax abatements to offset the immense, up-front capital investments required to establish a new facility or expand an existing one. Communities will compete for these projects by offering a host of incentives, with tax abatements being a common incentive.

In exchange for an abatement, companies commit to certain levels of job creation, payroll, and capital investment in that community. Not being able to offer this kind of incentive to beat competing communities’ offers can mean losing out on major investments that create good jobs in Gallia County.

The CRA program is intended to benefit the broader community in many ways.

• Commercial and industrial development will result in more good-paying job opportunities for our residents.

• The improvement of housing stock in Gallia County will provide more housing options at all income levels, encourage the clean-up of dilapidated properties, and increase property values for surrounding residents.

• “Retail follows rooftops,” so if residents want to see more restaurants and shopping options, our population needs to be able to support those new options. Generally, retailers prefer to see growing populations to make new investments in restaurants and shopping.

• An increase in population would likely bring an increase in local public school enrollment, supporting education jobs and the community cohesion resulting from strong public school systems.

Any property in the unincorporated areas of Gallia County are eligible for the program. Any property owners inside the villages of Gallipolis, Rio Grande, Cheshire, Vinton, Centerville, and Crown City would need to follow their municipality’s local CRA legislation, if available.

The CRA is built to incentivize the development that fills the community’s identified needs. For example, in a 2024 Housing Study, Gallia County identified the need for:

• Significant growth of multi-family developments, such as apartments, townhomes, and condos.

• Single-family homes in dense subdivisions.

• Infill single-family and multi-family homes on existing lots.

• Renovations of existing single-family and multi-family housing stock.

Gallia County’s 2024 Economic Development Strategic Plan identified industrial development as the community’s top economic development priority. With billions in new investment and thousands of new jobs coming to the surrounding region, there is a strong potential for Gallia County to capitalize on the downstream impacts of those projects to create new jobs and growth.

The CRA was created by county resolution and can be revoked at any time.  The vision for this program is that it would be evaluated at the end of 2027 by the County Commission and extended, adjusted, or dissolved based on the CRA’s performance. A three year window will allow enough time to judge the program’s effectiveness and make necessary adjustments as the market changes.

Any projects that receive an abatement during this timeframe will continue to receive their abatement, even if the program were to be dissolved.

Schools benefit when property values increase county-wide. 

With this program, property values around the County are expected to go up in the residential market as older homes are renovated, and new homes are built on land currently generating very little property tax revenue.

For commercial and industrial projects, local schools will benefit from long-term tax revenues gained from large facilities, as well as the possible influx of new people to the community as employment opportunities are generated from new development.

During the abatement period, local school districts forego a portion of the revenue they would ordinarily receive with increased property value. Once the abatement period is over for an abated project, the school system receives its full share of the increased property tax revenue.

It is important to remember that this is an incentive. It is trying to create activity that is not naturally occurring in the market right now. Without new development, the schools will continue to collect the same amount of money on idle or dilapidated properties, even as their costs increase.

Additionally, commercial and housing development typically begets more retail and commercial activity as businesses seek to be close to population centers, customers, and suppliers. This generates a cycle of activity that lifts up the existing property tax base.

Our school districts also need affordable housing for their employees. With the turnover in the education field around the state, our local schools will likely see an increase in new employees. Ideally, new staff will be able to live within the district’s boundaries. Employees that live locally result in higher employee retention and engagement with the school district. This program incentivizes more housing development locally, which can provide homes for new staff.

There will be no impact on the funds currently collected by the school district. The school district will never receive less funding as the result of an abatement. This is because it only applies to improved value after additions or new construction.

This is intended to stimulate development activity that has not been naturally occurring at a significant level in Gallia County, which has led to a higher property tax burden on residents and businesses and created revenue shortfalls for schools.

We do not anticipate that this program will create a significant enrollment jump that our local schools couldn’t handle with their existing facilities and staff.

The CRA program was designed over the course of many months that included in-depth discussions with each public school board in the County to ensure their concerns and questions were addressed.