Chowchilla approves tax rebate, fee waivers for businesses

Incentives for taking up vacant space, investing in downtown

The Fresno Bee

New incentives approved this week by the Chowchilla City Council are intended to ease the cost of doing business in the Madera County community.

The first of the two programs that the council authorized Tuesday provides a 50 percent rebate of the city’s share of sales taxes for three years for businesses if they occupy or expand into vacant buildings in the city before the end of 2016. According to a statement issued by the city, new and expanding businesses not only create jobs but also pay more in property taxes and generate 50 percent more sales taxes than when buildings are vacant.

The city also is waiving building permit fees through the end of 2017 in the downtown district, including permits needed for plumbing, electrical work, demolition, construction, repairs and renovations or conversions.

Chowchilla Mayor John Chavez said the programs send a strong signal to businesses “that Chowchilla wants you here and wants you to grow and prosper in our wonderful community.”

City Administrator Brian Haddix said the new incentives combined with the city’s location near the junction of Highway 99, a principal north-south trucking artery through the San Joaquin Valley, and Highway 152, which links the Valley to the Bay Area, make “a very compelling case for locating a retail business in Chowchilla, and particularly its downtown.”

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/business/article31155578.html#storylink=cpy