June 30, 2008 08:58 pm
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Here’s an idea we think Joplin city and economic leaders should explore: Give businesses a tax break for meeting energy and water conservation standards.
The Springfield City Council is considering the abatement to encourage energy and water conservation. If approved, it would be the first property-tax abatement of its kind in Missouri. Springfield council members are considering a 25 percent property-tax break for 10 years if businesses meets the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.
The program is sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, which encourages sustainable green building practices. Buildings can achieve four different levels of “green” certification.
Springfield is trying to encourage new businesses coming to town to work for their abatement by being environmentally responsible. Offering tax incentives to businesses in order to get them to open shop in your town is nothing new, but challenging them to come to your town and do their part to conserve energy and water is an idea worth exploring.
We’ll be watching to see if the idea passes in Springfield, and we hope our City Council and Chamber of Commerce will be taking notice as well. In fact, we think its an incentive that could be passed on to existing as well as new businesses.
Consider the fact that we are all worried about the future of our water resources. An incentive like this might be just the thing to turn the tap.
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