(KLZA)-- Following a public hearing Tuesday night the Falls City Council unanimously approved resolutions declaring a north study area in Falls City and a south study area in Falls City to be extremely blighted and substandard and in need of redevelopment, pursuant to the Nebraska Community Development laws.

 

Keith Marvin with Marvin Planning Consultants explained the areas involved would put the city over the allowed 50 percent blighted and substandard area. A fairly recent state law allows the amount of area designated as “extremely blighted” to surpass the 50 percent threshold.

 

The study indicated the average rate of unemployment in both areas is at least 200 percent of the average rate of unemployment in Nebraska and that the average poverty rate in both areas exceeds twenty percent.

 

Advantages of the extreme blight designation allows for a Tax Increment Financing period to be extended from 15 years to 20 years and could also mean tax credits for persons that purchase a home in an extremely blighted area.