Buy a vacant lot, build a house and get a tax break under proposal to spur redevelopment in Jeannette

A tax break program for certain residential areas in Jeannette is in the works as officials hope to promote redevelopment of lots that have been cleared of deteriorating homes.

Under the current proposal, anyone who buys a vacant lot and builds a house on it can benefit from three years of property tax abatement, said City Manager Ethan Keedy. City, county and school district officials will participate in a public hearing set for 6 p.m. Aug. 14 at City Hall to discuss the proposal.

Keedy estimated there are 20 to 30 vacant lots in the city that could benefit.

“We’re going to, hopefully, see a lot of these empty lots have new houses on them,” he said. “The goal is to promote it as an opportunity for people to come, develop and stay.”

If approved by all three taxing bodies, the program would operate similarly to commercial Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance zones that were established in Jeannette a couple of years ago. A project that qualifies under the commercial LERTA program is allowed a break on increased property taxes for three years in exchange for their investment in the city.

If the residential LERTA is approved, the developer or property owner would continue paying taxes on the original assessed property value of the empty lot for three years while a new home is built. After the third year, 100% of the new assessed value would be due.

Keedy said that LERTA designation would stay with the property, so if it changed hands, the tax benefit would remain during that period.

The program would apply only to designated areas of the city where there are blighted and vacant properties and code enforcement violations.

Keedy said he hopes to ultimately get grant funding to provide an incentive for developers or property owners to build new homes in Jeannette. But the first step will be next week’s public hearing. After that, the city, school district and county will have to introduce legislation separately and formally pass it before the program can be established.

It could be in effect by October.

While there have been applicants for the commercial LERTA program, none has qualified under the guidelines to take part in it, Keedy said. He believes a future redevelopment project at the former Fort Pitt Brewery site will qualify. Demolition started there last month.

A large demolition project in seven Westmoreland County municipalities, including Jeannette, is clearing out dilapidated structures while leaving behind empty, grassy lots. Brian Lawrence, executive director of the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority and Land Bank said he isn’t aware of any other local municipalities that have residential LERTA programs.

“I would applaud them for doing anything that helps in these circumstances,” he said. “It has to be councils leading the way on that.”

City officials are hoping to get control of three vacant properties in the county’s repository to put toward the residential LERTA project. Those properties are on South 12th Street and Scott Avenue.