Starting January 1, 2022, owners of residential buildings will be able to declare that they have created a green roof or have a green facade, which entitles them to exemption from property tax.
On October 28, 2021, the Kalisz City Council adopted a resolution to exempt from property tax residential buildings or parts thereof with a green roof or having a green facade.
The proposed exemption is aimed at improving the image of our city and is intended to be an incentive for taxpayers to create green roofs or green facades on residential buildings. Green roofs as well as green facades serve not only an aesthetic function, but offer many benefits, such as cooling the building, supplying water to the atmosphere by retaining moisture and then evaporating into the atmosphere, and also catching minor air pollutants," Kalisz Mayor Krystian Kinastowski points out in the justification for passing the resolution.
who gets the relief?
In order to obtain a property tax exemption, one must submit an appropriate statement with information on the area of the green roof or the number of walls covered with greenery, photographic documentation confirming the possession of greenery, and a statement that there is no business activity on the premises.
The resolution is valid until December 31, 2026. This means that beneficiaries of the relief will be able to use it in subsequent years. The condition for further relief is the submission of a statement on the maintenance of a green roof or facade, photographic documentation confirming this, and a statement on the absence of business activity on the premises.
Green building in Kalisz.
© Press materials of the City Hall in Kalisz
fight against concretosis
The problem of concretosis was described on the A&B portal by Wojciech Januszczyk in the article "Big trees for cities vs. concretosis". The first green bus stops have been put up in Bialystok. In March of this year, the municipality of Klobuck established a special greening team to oversee the planting and care of green areas. Kalisz is another city on the map of Poland that has launched battles against the phenomenon of destruction of urban space.
The phenomenon of concreting is increasingly recognized not only from the perspective of large urban centers, but also from smaller cities and towns, such as Kalisz. The green roofs and facades encouraged by the resolution are the first step to de-concretizing cities and creating green-friendly places. Can we expect a wave of similar resolutions in other cities?
