A vacant lot on Mitchell Street in the City of Norwich. Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed a Real Property Tax Law amendment that will provide tax breaks to individuals building new residential property on vacant lots in the City of Norwich. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH — On December 21, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a New York State Real Property Tax Law amendment that would provide a tax break to individuals building residential property on vacant lots in the City of Norwich.

According to City of Norwich Mayor Brian Doliver, owners of vacant lots who decide to build a single-family home on the lot would be able to retain the vacant lot assessment until the home is completed, or up to 18 months, whichever comes first.

After that time, the property would be re-assessed, and taxes would be based on 20 percent of that value, increasing by 20 percent every year for five years.

Doliver said the hope is this provides an incentive for property owners to build new houses, which is one step in addressing the need for housing within in the city.

"It’s an incentive to build," he said. "Housing is an issue in the State of New York, and all across the country. So we hope that this is one thing we can do."

City of Norwich Community Development Director Erik Scrivener said the city began working on this around five years ago. It took a long time to get done as it had to be approved locally, then moved up through the Assembly and the Senate before being signed by the governor, with many changes made along the way to narrow the scope of the exemption.