FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		LOCAL LEADERS URGE LEGISLATURE TO PASS BILL The Fall River Spirit, Thursday, October 8, 2009 - Page A1 Mayors and city manager's from Massachusetts “Gateway Cities” urged state legislators last Wednesday to pass a bill that would significantly advance the economic revitalization of the state’s mill communities. Calling the 11 cities “the economic engines of Massachusetts’ middle class,” the executives strongly supported the provisions of House Bill 2702, which includes several key economic development policies that reflect the agenda developed by the Gateways Cities Coalition. “In light of the fiscal crisis we’re all facing, we are hanging on by the proverbial skin of our teeth. This package, of incentives will help keep our cities financially stable in the future. We don’t want to come to the state and ask for a bailout plan. We want to stand on our own two feet. This bill will assist us in doing just that,” said Mayor Robert Correia said during his testimony on Beacon Hill. The eleven Gateway Cities, Fall River, Brockton, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Springfield, and Worcester were identified in a 2007 MassINC-Brookings Institution report titled “Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateways Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal.” After the report’s findings identified both the obstacles and opportunities for economic revitalization in these historically significant, manufacturing cities, the mayors and city managers of these communities formed a Gateways Cities Coalition, and signed a Gateways Compact in May of 2008 to advocate for their common objectives. Since the signing of the compact, these cities, their chief executives, and their economic development officials have worked together with the Urban Initiative at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and MassINC to craft concrete policy reforms at the state level that can help these cities realize their full potential in the state’s knowledge-based economy. The hearing was before the State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Revenue. House Bill 2702 was filed en behalf of these eleven communities by Representative Antonio Cabral of New Bedford and the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus. The legislation, titled “Pm Act to Promote Economic Development in Gateway Cities,” includes key provisions developed by the Coalition. These include: An uncapping of the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit in the Gateway Cities while increasing the annual limit for these credits throughout the state from $50 million to $100 million, The establishment of a Job Creation Tax Credit for employers bringing new jobs into Gateway Cities in the amount of $2,500 per employee, The creation of a Gateway City Housing Tax Credit that devotes $25 million to stimulate production of market rate housing, The launching of a Gateway City Homeownership Rehabilitation Tax Credit for owner-occupied homes within designated neighborhoods, A coupling of the three-percent In vestment Tax Credit with the 5 percent Economic Opportunity Area tax credit for companies that locate in Gateway Cities, and an expansion of the Economic Opportunity Area tax credit to property owners on buildings leased within a Gateway City. In making their case the mayors and city managers pointed to structural challenges in current tax incentive programs, like the Economic Opportunity Area tax credit, which, although originally designed to encourage companies to invest in cities facing true barriers to development, has become diluted by sprawling designation. At last count, 138 communities now qualify for these special incentives originally designed to encourage reinvestment in blighted urban areas. The mayors and city managers also pointed to the significant opportunities the bill’s provisions create to promote the smart growth state leaders have been pushing for in recent years. H. 2702 will lead to the reuse, redevelopment, and remediation of existing structures, while protecting open space and undeveloped land from excessive new development. Back