Wondering if your LEED Home Qualifies for Residential Tax Abatement?
If you have already built or are thinking about building in the Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Oakley, Mt. Adams, OTR or Columbia Tusculum areas, you might have already heard about the tax abatement in the City of Cincinnati. When you build a new home or invest in renovations, your property taxes can go up. The City of Cincinnati has a Residential Property Tax Abatement program that potentially allows owners to pay taxes on the pre-improvement value of their property for 10-15 years. There are caps to these tax abatements now. Please review the link from the City of Cincinnati above to see where your home would qualify as the rules are changing rapidly with the city. This information could be out to date at any time so please check with the Hamilton County Auditor or City of Cincinnati for complete and accurate details on the abatement program.
Talk about a major incentive to renovate or build a home in the city of Cincinnati!! Tax abatement benefits stay with the property the entire length of the abatement and transfer to any new property owner within the approved time period. Again, please check with all government entities as these programs are changing each year.
Once the project is complete and all permits are closed, the homeowner will need to submit a “Residential CRA Application” to the city of Cincinnati. Here are the steps to take:
Complete the Residential CRA Application and include the $250 application fee.
This is how you should answer the following questions on page 1 of the application:
Answer “No” to: “Please indicate if the project is certified to meet the City of Cincinnati Visitability Standards as certified by the Dept. of Buildings & Inspections:
Answer “No” to: Please indicate if the project will be submitting a before and after Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index Score (see pages 3 & 4).
Legendary Homes will tell you which level of LEED Certification to choose. This will typically be LEED Platinum.
Answer “Not LBC Qualified” to Please Indicate if the project met Living Building Challenge (LBC) levels as defined by the International Living Future Institute.
You will need to share the closing statement for documentation as well as your Certificate of Occupancy.
Once you have filled out the application and gathered the required documents, we recommend calling the city to make sure the form is filled out correctly before submitting. The city can be reached at:
Department of Community & Economic Development
Two Centennial Plaza
805 Central Avenue Suite 700
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513-352-6146
For more information on Residential Tax Abatement visit: https://choosecincy.com/homeowner-renter-assistance/residential-tax-abatement/
Areas that quality for the LEED Tax Abatement:
Hyde Park
Mt. Lookout
Oakley
Columbia Tusculum
Mt. Adams
OTR