By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The school district heard a report about a proposed expansion of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program at its meeting Monday.

The City of Hays is seeking to increase the area of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program. The previous program encompassed about 200 acres.

The amended program would include 1,628, which is the boundary of the build out in Hays in 1965.

The appraised value of proposed
area is $644,777,390.

The proposed area reflects an area that encompasses buildings that are 50 years old and older.

The goals of the program are to improve commercial property and promote owner-occupied housing and purpose-built multi-family housing in an area where single family houses are already transitioning to single family rental housing.

The program would allow a residential or commercial owner to rebate 65 percent of the increased property tax from improvements.

The previous program resulted in about $500,000 increase in property value.

Wood said the program would not affect the current revenue the district is realizing from property tax. It is only rebating taxes on increases in property values in the program.

If a structure was assessed at $100,000, and $100,000 worth of improvements were made to project, the owner would save about $7,877 over 10 years under the new program.

The city is proposing a couple of changes to the program. They include simplifying the application process, establishing an appeals process and establishing a delinquency criteria.

It would also increase and standardize minimum investment from $5,000 residential/$15,000 commercial to $25,000 residential/$50,000 commercial projects.

Forty-five properties have benefitted from the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan since its establishment.

Some of the projects that have been done with the previous program include Gella’s Diner, Salon 1007, and the apartments at 100 E. Fifth.

The city has already approved the revitalization program. Because the program also will affect property tax collected by the school district and county, both entities must also approved the program.

The program will be on the district’s next meeting agenda for a vote on June 12.