Business View Civil and Municipal | February 2021

90 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL FEBRUARY 2021 speculative reuse will allow businesses to save money on future municipal property taxes as they invest and make improvements. There is also a water and wastewater incentive program aimed at reducing costs for large water consumption. Duffy explains, “The city has a very strong and robust water and wastewater system. It’s got an excess capacity, so we actually established several years ago what is called the water and wastewater rate reduction incentive, where we can actually waive the initial allocation fee and discount the future base rate for high water users. The program has been mainly utilized by larger restaurants or other businesses using a significant amount of water daily.” In the past few years, the city has had success bringing businesses into the historic downtown and have brought about 35 new families to Rutland through its regional marketing campaign geared to helping people find their forever home. Allaire acknowledges, “Our strongest attributes are our people, our workforce, our small town feel, low crime rates, a great school system, location to the ski areas and the lakes, and just outdoor recreation in general. And for those looking for a new start, we believe this would be great place for them to relocate.” PREFERRED VENDOR n Community Bank N.A. cbna.com