It'll be a bit longer before construction of two new warehouses at the former Navistar site in Chatham is complete.
Chatham-Kent council met on Monday where they approved a request from the site's owners asking for an extension to complete the project so they can remain eligible for municipal incentive programs.
The owners applied to the Chatham-Kent Community Improvement Plan (CIP) in 2021 and 2022 to get millions worth of incentives, but it required that the construction be finished within two years.
A report that went before council asked for the construction period of a warehouse at 450 Merritt Avenue near Richmond Street be extended to July 2025 to remain eligible in the Building and Planning Fee Rebate Program and Property Tax Increment Equivalent Programs of the Chatham-Kent Community Improvement Plan.
Council also approved a CIP Property Tax Increment Equivalent Grant Agreement which will provide an annual grant equivalent to 100 per cent of the increase in municipal property taxes resulting from the development of the second warehouse for 10 years.
The programs are in place to allow for targeted investment and to provide economic incentive for the development, redevelopment, and adaptive reuse or rehabilitation of properties.
"It (The Property Tax Increment Equivalent Grant Program) provides an incentive to reduce the tax increase that can result when a property is developed, redeveloped or rehabilitated. This may provide assistance in securing project financing and is anticipated to increase the assessment base in the Municipality," wrote CK Planner Greg Houston in his report.
The municipality said grant amounts are determined following completion of the project, reassessment by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, and conclusion of appeals to the Assessment Review Board, if any.