The city hasn't issued any new tax breaks for residential construction for a number of years.
There are, however, a dozen or more existing properties which received the residential tax abatement designation but have never used it because nothing was built on the lots, City Councilman John Brezik, D-5th, said.
It's for those existing tax abated properties Brezik and other council members propose eliminating any more extensions.
"We want to seek a fair solution for all," Brezik said.
Brezik, who is a member of the tax abatement committee, said the group plans to discuss the issue after a list of all residential tax abated properties is compiled. An expiration date would then be set.
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City Councilman David Vinzant, D-4th, said there are several residential tax-abated properties throughout the city.
"At some point we need to sunset the program so they all end at the same time," Vinzant said.
Residential and commercial tax abatements have been offered in the city since the early 1990s.
The residential tax abatements were offered in Hobart because no new homes had been built in the city for about 15 years because of a sewer moratorium, Vinzant said.
The residential tax abatement, or six-year tax break, was offered as an incentive by the developer to future homeowners who could use the abatement once the lot was built on, Vinzant said.
"The purpose was to promote residential development and it was a success. We got a lot of houses in town we wouldn't have had without it, but now our focus is on what we can do to bring commercial development in that brings in jobs," Vinzant said.
