Parkersburg council OKs tax-rebate program for property improvements

Parkersburg City Council approved a tax-rebate program Tuesday night that's designed to encourage rehabilitation and remodeling of property in the city.

The program would be an incentive to rehabilitate residential, commercial and industrial properties in the city.

The program has the support of numerous business organizations. Several people spoke in support of the measure two weeks ago and again Tuesday night.

An amendment to lower the threshold from $25,000 to $20,000 was rejected after some debate. Council members said they felt the program could be fine tuned after a few months with the input of the business and construction industry, if necessary.