Members of the Baltimore County Council are considering a hefty tax break for new commercial buildings that meet a stringent federal environment-friendly criteria.
Council Member Vince Gardina, D-District 5, is proposing a full 10-year property tax credit for buildings that get a silver rating or better, according to the federal Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system. The credit would be capped at $1 million per year, he said.
“The idea is to encourage developers to build these things,” said Gardina, a civil engineer. “It?s not like it would be $1 million taken out of current revenue.”
The program could be evaluated after a pilot period, Gardina said, depending on participation. So far, he said he only knows of one county building that would qualify for the break ? the headquarters of Century Engineering in Hunt Valley now under construction, but only if the council grandfathers the bill to include recent construction.
The $6.3 million building uses natural sunlight, is within a half-mile of a mass transportation system and provides designated carpool parking spaces, according to company literature. Stormwater will be treated in an underground vault containing sand to filter out pollutants, and motion detectors will be used to limit energy consumption in unoccupied areas. That means employees will have control over the temperature, humidity and light of their own work space, said company president Francis Smyth, and the building will operate on renewable wind energy. The company is also converting its car fleet to all-hybrid vehicles.
“It?s the wave of the future,” Smyth said. “We?re on the leading edge of design, and it makes sense that we commit to it with money as well as our heart and soul, so we did.”
Council members will discuss the bill at their June 27 meeting and vote on it in July.
