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Smithville city leaders hope to boost new home construction with a program similar to its successful rival to the east.

The city plans to begin offering building permits at half price — something Kearney has successfully done.

City administrators and aldermen think the incentive could bring in more city revenue and community growth than the full-price permits.

Local home builders and developers back the move.

“We’re not asking for charity. We’re asking for you to be competitive. You are among the highest in the metropolitan area,” Scott Hulen with Smithville’s R&S Home Builders said during the Smithville Board of Aldermen’s public comment portion at the July 20 meeting. “It makes it a struggle to sell Smithville the way we would like to.”

Smithville Community Development Director Jack Hendrix said last year’s decision to let builders delay fee payments didn’t entice building in the city as much as anticipated.

Builders, he said, “could not justify coming to Smithville anymore when they could go to Kearney and other cities for less.”

Not only could the incentive increase new home numbers to the point that the city would collect more fee revenue with a lower price, the addition of new homes could increase the city’s property tax collections long term, Hendrix pointed out.

During the meeting, the aldermen gave preliminary approval to the new incentive. The board is expected to give the proposal final approval during its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, Aug. 3.

Builders encounter the city’s permit fees for water and sewer hookups. The half-off discount would drop the total cost from $5,200 per home to $2,600 per home.

The incentive does have parameters. To be eligible, the home must be a single-family residence. The program targets the hundreds of empty lots in existing subdivisions.

The program would be limited to 50 permits and would expire at the end of October 2011. The city plans to discontinue the program that allowed builders to delay payments.

Since the current fiscal year began Nov. 1, 2009, the city has issued 21 permits. Typically, summertime brings the most permits. However, recent months have been slow.

Last year, the city issued 30 permits.

ZEBRA MUSSELS

No threat to drinking supply

While zebra mussels were found in Smithville Lake, the city of Smithville’s drinking water is safe, water superintendent Bob Lemley wrote in a report to the Smithville Board of Aldermen.

Lemley wrote that there have been a lot of rumors about the mussels, including that it would affect the drinking water. There is no truth to that, he wrote.

Zebra mussels, an invasive species that can cause problems such as boat damage, were found on a boat lift at the lake in early July.

“The lift was removed, and plans are under way to rid the lake of any more,” Lemley wrote.

Smithville Editor Nancy Hull Rigdon can be reached at 532-4444 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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