Adams County Board approves $1 million for housing incentives; meetings now carried live online

QUINCY — After more than a year of discussions, The Adams County Board Tuesday night approved the establishment of a $1 million program to incentivize housing development in Quincy and Adams County.

Finance Committee Chairman Bret Austin (R-District 1) outlined the plan, which will utilize most of the remaining American Rescue Plan Act $13.3 million the County has received from the federal government following the Pandemic.

The Growing Residential Opportunities county-Wide (GROW) program, will operate in a similar fashion to development incentives offered in certain sections of the City of Quincy by developing abandoned properties. Developers can receive up to $20,000 per unit with a cap of $100,000 per applicant and project must be completed by the end of 2026. Upon completion, the developer receive the reimbursement as a zero-percent interest loan that will be be forgiven in five years and all other taxes and loans against the property must be kept current or the loan could be called.

The application committee will be chosen by the Adams County Board from the Great River Economic Development (GREDF) board and other local boards. County Board members will not be part of the application committee, but the applications will go through the Finance Committee and the County Board for final approval.

GREDF will also receive $20,000 for administering the program and could receive up to another $20,000 upon completion of the program as a 2 percent commission of each loan granted.

County Board members, or any corporation of which they are part of, are not eligible for the program.

In other action, the County Board heard about:

• Mold remediation moving into two courtrooms, 3A and 2B over the next few weeks. That means more court cases will be heard in the County Board room, which has been remodeled and fitted with air handling systems.
• Adams County housing federal inmates in the jail. These inmates will be held as they await trial. The County will receive $80 a day plus reimbursements for food and medical services from the federal government.