PROVIDENCE — A key City Council committee approved a standardized plan for tax incentives for the former Interstate 195 lands on Thursday, amending the proposal to include property in the Capital Center development district under the same terms.
The Finance Committee approved the tax stabilization agreement ordinance unanimously, creating a two-tiered, standardized tax plan that will allow a 20-year phase-in of property taxes for companies that propose to develop projects of at least $50 million in either of the two districts.
An administrative process for approval — one that bypasses both the council and mayor — would be established as long as the developments meet certain criteria. Those administrative approvals would be limited to the first five that meet the requirements of the ordinance. After those five project are approved, developers would need to move further proposals through the political arenas of council and mayor.
A second program would allow projects exceeding $10 million to have TSA terms of 15 years, with all the smaller projects subject to administrative approval.
The City Council is expected to take up the measure at its next meeting. The ordinance is supported by Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, according to his chief administrative officer.
The Finance Committee’s approval followed a public hearing of nearly an hour.
The council’s chambers were filled to capacity by representatives of organized labor, including union workers at the city’s hotels, as well as construction trades workers. All argued that the TSA would bring needed jobs to Providence by encouraging development.
Michael Sabitoni, president of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council, said unemployment remains a problem for construction workers in the state, who need to work again.
“We need to get this city and this state rolling,” he said. “We will get these Providence residents back to work rebuilding the city of Providence.”
Richard Galvin, the president of CV Properties LLC, which recently proposed a development that would include lab and office space for biological sciences research on two available parcels in the I-195 district lands, praised the proposed ordinance in a letter that was presented and read aloud.