"It kind of feels like a bait and switch," said Shaun Debenham, owner of a company that applied for the tax exemption as part of a deal to build a 48-unit development downtown named Block 96, made up of small studio and one-bedroom apartments rented at market rates.ĭebenham thought that after applying for and winning approval for the program, it would mean a 100% exemption from the property's annual tax obligation.īut that clashes with a state statute barring local governments from exempting the portion of property taxes required to pay for public education. The ordinance passed 10-1 in March 2019, and a companion measure was added the next year granting a similar tax break for projects geared toward affordable workforce housing.īut four years later, some Anchorage developers say the measure isn't working out for them as advertised. "Incentivizing economic development in the form of housing development should both expand the tax base of the municipality and generate property tax revenue after the exemption expires," wrote Chris Schutte, who at the time headed the city's Office of Economic and Community Development. One mechanism to do this seemed simple enough: Members of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz's administration, along with the Assembly, pushed a proposal that would give developers a break from property taxes for 12 years on projects that would add four or more units of new housing within the downtown business district.
The aim was to add more residential units to increase population density, which supporters said would lure more businesses catering to those new residents. In 2019, officials in Anchorage wanted to boost new construction and development projects downtown. 18-Anchorage real estate developers who applied for a city program offering a tax break say it falls short of what was promised, threatening some projects and imperiling interest in future residential development.
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