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Residential Tax Abatement

Tax abatement programs help to incentivize new residential construction and/or residential improvements by temporarily reducing property taxes. Altoona’s Urban Revitalization Plan includes the following two categories of tax abatement:

New Residential Construction
To obtain this tax abatement, a property owner must build a new home on an empty lot. Additionally, the following criteria apply:

  1. Construct a new home on an empty lot in the City of Altoona
  1. The lot must be in an approved subdivision. (Note, Boulder Creek Estates Plat 1 is NOT eligible for Tax Abatement)
  1. The new home must be owner-occupied
  2. If the property is located within a plat approved after December 31, 2006, the lot may be required to have two hardwood trees for tax abatement eligibility. See the list of approved trees here.

 

All qualified residential real estate is eligible to receive a one hundred percent (100%) exception from taxation on the first $75,000.00 of actual value added by the improvements.  This exemption is for a period of five years.

Example:
A new home is assessed at $300,000.00 by the Polk County Assessor.  After abatement is applied, the assessment is reduced to $225,000.00 for taxation purposes.  The $75,000.00 reduction in assessed valuation is constant for five tax years.

Residential Improvement
These tax abatements are offered for home improvements that increase the property assessment by ten percent or more, as determined by the Polk County Assessor. The increased assessment value – up to a maximum of $75,000 – is eligible for a five-year tax abatement.

Example 1:
An existing home is assessed at $200,000 by the Polk County Assessor.  The homeowner performs improvements that raise the assessment to $220,000 (a 10 percent increase). The additional $20,000 is removed from the assessment, and the property continues to be assessed at $200,000 for five tax years.

Example 2:
An existing home is assessed at $100,000 by the Polk County Assessor. The homeowner performs improvements that raise the home assessment to $200,000 (a 100 percent increase). $75,000 of the additional assessed value is removed for tax purposes. Therefore, the property is assessed at $125,000 for five years.

Information & Application
If you have questions or desire more information, contact the Altoona Building Department:
Contact Us

To Apply for Tax Abatement, please visit our permit portal:
Permit Portal 

Please refer to the Polk County Assessor’s website for additional information:
Urban Revitalization Tax Abatement