Supervisors to decide Monday on tax abatement for Roosevelt apartments

The Linn County supervisors will decide Monday whether to offer a tax abatement to the Roosevelt apartment building.

The historic building, flooded in 2008, was purchased in December 2008 by Sherman Associates Inc., of Minneapolis. The building had been owned by Roosevelt of Cedar Rapids LC.

Sherman Associates applied for a tax abatement offered by the Linn County supervisors to any owner who lost the use of the property as a result of the flood. Any property sold after the flood was supposed to be ineligible for an abatement.

The property tax bill for the building, due Sept. 1, 2009, was $84, 024. The owners applied for an abatement of about $28,000 of that because they were out of the building through October 2008, Treasurer Mike Stevenson said.

The supervisors must decide whether the Roosevelt deserves a tax abatement, since the purchase of the building, though it started before the flood, wasn't finalized until later in 2008.

“(The purchase) was entered into pre-flood,” Supervisor Linda Langston said.

Supervisor Brent Oleson said the purchase price reflects the loss in value due to the flood, so he isn't sure the Roosevelt should get a tax abatement.

“What I'm concerned about is giving a private company a tax break when that loss is already reflected in the price,” Oleson said.

Sherman bought the building for $2.2 million, about $1.2 million less than the price before the June 2008 flood. Sherman started renovating the building in February 2009.

The Iowa Finance Authority last year approved $5.98 million in tax credits for the Roosevelt project.

About 2,600 Linn County properties will receive tax abatements on the September 2009 tax bill.