The Michigan Legislature has passed a bill doubling the annual tax incentive on brownfield redevelopment projects, or properties that are otherwise blighted or contaminated. These properties often are left undeveloped because of their expensive cleanup costs.
The bill expands upon the transformational brownfield program created in 2017 and aims to improve the program for smaller projects and towns.
Senate Bill 289 would raise the annual tax capture limit for these projects to $80 million from $40 million.
Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) is a sponsor of the bill.
He said the bill would only provide tax incentives for projects with a significant economic and employment impact on communities.
“It's an incentive tool that we can be competitive with other states to lure in big projects. But there's no cash up front, it requires the developers to produce on-site,” he said.
Moss described the legislation as a tool Michigan towns can use to pursue development projects on properties with expensive cleanup costs.
“There are communities that have been waiting. So what the legislation does is that it increases the amount of projects that can participate in this program and it increases the amount of investments that can come to a community,” Moss said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign the bill when it reaches her desk.
