BLUE EARTH– The city administrators from Blue Earth, Wells and Winnebago attended the Faribault County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, asking the commissioners to consider implementing a tax abatement program for new housing construction.

“Officials from the three cities worked together to come up with an identical tax abatement program,” Blue Earth city administrator Mary Kennedy told the County Board. “All three cities have adopted the program and we are asking you to consider implementing a county tax abatement program for the three communities.”

Kennedy cited the need for more housing and staying competitive with surrounding counties as two of the reasons for the proposal.

“Winnebago just completed a housing study,” Winnebago city administrator Judy Hynes explained. “One of the things we learned was the city has 86 empty lots. Currently, the county only gets about $20 tax revenue from those lots.”

Connor LaPointe, the city administrator from Wells, shared some people may question why they have come up with this proposal.

“We are looking at it from an economic development standpoint,” he commented. “We have two large companies located in Wells, Brakebush and Wells Concrete. They have employees who drive from Albert Lea and part of the reason is a lack of housing in the city of Wells.”

The commissioners were on board with the idea but questioned how much time would be required to administrator the program.

“We, as the cities, are trying to take on as much of the administration as possible,” Hynes explained. “The cities would make sure the building codes and other requirements are met.”

The program in place in the three cities would begin this year and be open through 2028. Anybody building new housing that qualifies for the program would receive five years of tax abatements from the time they entered the program.

The commissioners were in favor of the program and thought it should possibly be implemented on a county-wide basis, including the rural areas, and instructed county staff members to further investigate the matter and then work on drafting a resolution for the commissioners to consider at one of their upcoming meetings.

In other business, the board:

— Approved an HVAC drywall change order in the amount of $27,007.

— Voted to approve an HVAC change order for the courthouse at a cost savings in the amount of $31,977.