City to continue to offer tax rebates for new homes

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

New homes within the City of New York Mills will continue to have the opportunity to receive rebates on their taxes.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last week, the NY Mills City Council approved a new five year tax rebate program for new single family and two-family homes in the city limits. The city council is hoping the program will spur new homes within the community as several lots are available in both the Country View and South Point housing developments.

The program mirrors a similar program that was implemented by Otter Tail County, with the partnership of a number of cities throughout the county, but expired at the end of 2024.

“That program with the county has come to an end. It came to an end on December 31, but they said if cities want to continue it the city has to be the lead on it and then ask the county to match it,” said Roberts.

As part of the county’s Big Build program, which provided tax rebates on new homes over the past several years, throughout Otter Tail County and the City of NY Mills has approved three new housing projects within the city limits. The new program will be similar to the county-led program that provides up to 100 percent tax rebate for the city’s and county’s portion of the increase in real estate taxes from building a new home for a period of up to five years or up to $5,000, whichever is met first. There are certain criteria that a home must meet, but the city is hoping that by continuing the program it will provide prospective residents with an extra incentive to build a home in NY Mills. 

While the county will no longer be the lead of the program, Roberts said the county will continue to help each city with administering the program if necessary, as well as calculating the total amount due. 

Since the tax credit only applies to the increase in taxes from building a new home Roberts said implementing the program does not hurt tax income within the city, it only delays getting an increase in taxes for up to five years on a new home. 

“I don’t see it being a hindrance at all because right now we are getting nothing and if somebody were to put up a new house and there are tax dollars coming in for that house we weren’t getting those tax dollars before so it is just kind of deferring when we would get those tax dollars,” she said. 

The city council approved moving forward with requesting the county to partner on the new single home and two-family home program. The new program will last for a period of five years and expire on December 31, 2030.

In other news

• Heard the monthly report from Mills Liquors, which showed that combined gross sales for the month were down one percent from the prior year. Year to date net revenues were also down four percent as a percentage of sales from the prior year. 

• Heard the monthly fire department report from the NY Mills Fire Department that showed 15 total calls, 12 of which were medical calls last month. There was also one structure fire with mutual aid with Wolf Lake and two false alarm calls. 

• Heard the monthly police department report, which showed 85 calls for service, three citations, 23 parking citations, 18 warnings and one arrest. 

• Heard there have been some plumbing issues in the liquor store restrooms. Esser’s Plumbing and Heating removed and replaced approximately 20 feet of 4-inch waste line that had calcified shut. The utility department is also monitoring frost depths weekly due to the cold weather and lack of snow. 

• Approved a task order to complete a preliminary engineering report for the water treatment plant with Apex Engineering. The water plant located at the corner of Hayes Avenue and Gilman Street was originally constructed in the late 1960’s and has seen a few upgrades over the years. Due to the age of the plant the preliminary engineering report will explore alternatives for continuing to supply the City of New York Mills with treated water, new wells and potential system improvements. The report will help to guide any improvements at the water treatment plant and plan for 2026-27 when possible work at the facility could begin. 

• Approved a new pricing structure for vacant lots in the Country View development, pending NY Mills EDA approval. The lots were previously in a TIF District and the city had a set price for what it needed to charge for each lot. The city said it would like to promote the lots at starting at $10,000, reduce the cost of the lots by an additional $1,000 apiece, continue with the $500 gas credit and any new houses would also qualify for the new house tax credit since the properties are no longer part of the TIF district.