Salem Mayor Nic Farley has asked the city council to consider ways the city can incentivize building new homes in the city.
Farley’s comments at Tuesday night’s city council meeting comes after release of the city’s building permit report for 2022 showed only one new home constructed in the city last year.
“I’d like to get our city officials and council members together and come up with a plan. I don’t know if that includes property tax rebates or some kind of incentive there, or if it’s construction materials and some kind of rebate there. Discounts on natural gas or water supplies. We need to look and talk to some contractors to see what the best incentive package would be.”
Farley feels now is a key time to look at ways to help the city’s population grow.
“With the job creating coming over the next 18-24 months in the city of Salem we are going to have an influx of workers coming to our town from other towns. I think Salem is a great community to live in so we have to make sure we have the housing available when those jobs become available.”
Farley hopes whatever incentives are adopted they can help counter the rising cost of building materials that has slowed new construction across the country.
