Leelanau Township unanimously approved a Workforce Housing PILOT ordinance at its regular meeting on June 10, which aims to encourage builders to construct attainable housing. The ordinance is part of a shared effort both the township and village of Northport have been pursuing to address the need for workforce housing in the area.
Barbara Conley, Leelanau Township supervisor, said the ordinance lays out what the township wants from the builder in order to have to have a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes). The approved ordinance allows for workforce housing projects to be exempt from “all ad valorem property taxes imposed by any taxing jurisdiction and providing for payment of an annual service charge for public services in lieu of all such taxes.”
According to the ordinance, workforce housing is defined as “rental units or other housing options that are reasonably affordable to, and occupied by, a household whose total household income is not greater than 120% of the area median income published by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.” Conley said they hope to be able to use the PILOT as a tool, among others, to encourage housing that is affordable to people who would live and work here.
