Sixty percent tax abatements may be a thing of the past in Gardner.
The city’s existing tax abatement policy, which set the normal abatement rate at 60 percent, is set to expire at the end of this year. No development activity occured under the current policy. However, city council members approved a new policy re-setting the abatement rate to 50 percent during a city council meeting on Dec. 3.
Laura Gourley, city finance director, told council members that most neighboring cities cap their abatements at 50 percent. She recommended that Gardner do the same.
However, she told council members that the new policy is flexible enough that the council can still offer abatements between 1 percent and 100 percent.
(Read more at the Gardner News)