The Urbana City Council unanimously approved a fee schedule for the Urbana Free Enterprise Zone at its Dec 14 meeting.
Fee schedules are essentially a list of all the fees a government charges for permits, fines, registrations and other surcharges. The ordinance establishes fees for each of the benefits offered to businesses participating in the Enterprise Zone, including sales tax exemption and property tax abatement.
The application for sales tax exemption will be based on a rate of $5 for every $1,000 of new construction materials purchased. Property tax abatements will have a scale varying on length of the abatement, including $250 for a five-year application, $600 for a six-year application, and $700 for a seven-year application.
The fee schedule also sets a fee for boundary amendments based on a rate of $5 for every $1,000 of new construction material costs.
The new fees are limited to a total of $50,000 for any one business.
Taken collectively, the incentives are meant to attract new businesses to the area by creating a situation in which businesses are encouraged to establishing themselves and grow.
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