Chowchilla looks to make downtown attractive to business

Incentives meant to draw business to the downtown district will go into place in Chowchilla after a vote last week by the City Council.

The incentives, which encourage new development and expansion, come about a month after the city implemented separate incentives to try to court industrial development.

The city’s downtown has been designated generally by the area from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks to Seventh Street, and between Kings and Trinity avenues. A couple of parcels that jut out of those boundaries also are included in the incentive programs.

Brian Haddix, the city administrator, said finding a way to strengthen downtown’s economic standing is important. “For Chowchilla, the downtown is its heart,” he said.

One incentive will attempt to fill vacant buildings by giving a 50 percent rebate of the city’s share of general sales taxes for the first three years to any business that occupies or expands into empty buildings through the end of next year.

The incentive would not be extended to businesses already in town that move into the district without expanding, Haddix said.

The second incentive waives building permit fees in the downtown business district through the end of 2017. The waiver would apply to all work that requires a building permit, including plumbing, electrical, demolition, construction, repairs, renovations and other changes to structures.

The money paid by developers generates dollars for the general fund, which could be affected by the incentives. The city is projected to make $187,705 during this fiscal year from all of the permits and licenses it issues, according to the budget.

But permits are a considerably smaller portion of the city’s revenues compared with what it expects to make on sales tax ($1.7 million) or property taxes ($884,500) this year, according to the budget.

Haddix compared the use of incentives to the way a store holds a sale to bring in customers. “It’s really no different than a grocery store putting certain items on sale,” he said. “It increases traffic and benefits the whole grocery store.”

Mayor John Chavez said the council is glad to have the incentives to reduce the cost of doing business in town. “It says to our current and future businesses that Chowchilla wants you here, and wants you to grow and prosper in our wonderful community,” he said in a statement. “When new businesses relocate here or existing businesses expand, the whole city benefits.”

The council is looking for ways to bring the unemployment rate down in the city. With a labor force of about 5,200, Chowchilla has an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent, higher than the state average, according to the Employment Development Department.

In July, the city adopted a separate incentive for industrial developers who bring new jobs to town.

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Chowchilla looks to make downtown attractive to business."