Development Incentive Programs assist the City in expanding its number of citizens, land mass, property tax base, sales tax revenue, service offerings to its citizens, and infrastructure capacity.

The City of Westminster encourages planned growth and development within the City and seeks to motivate those undertaking development near our corporate boundary to become a part of our great City through annexation in order to take advantage of this program.

Commercial Development

The Commercial Development Incentive Program is designed for commercial developers or qualifying individual businesses to execute an approved, qualifying  development plan to, over a period of ten (10) years, recoup up to 100% of infrastructure costs.  If the development is undertaken within the Core Commercial District, the rebate period is extended to fifteen (15) years.

Benefit to the Developers:  The potential for 100% cost elimination for infrastructure for commercial development.

Residential Development

The Residential Development Incentive Program is designed for residential developers who execute an approved residential development  plan to, over a period of ten (10) years, recoup up to 100% of infrastructure costs.

The incentive is an infrastructure reimbursement plan made possible by increased property tax revenues from increased property values over a period of ten (10) years, or until total amount of eligible expenses is repaid, whichever comes first.

Developers, undertaking a project that includes a minimum of three (3) homes within our corporate boundary is eligible and encouraged to contact the Code Compliance and Development Office during the planning stage to initiate the process.

The City offers an Economic Development Rate for approved Customers that bring on New Load that result in:

  1. an Annual average Monthly demand of 100 kW or greater and

  2. an Annual average Monthly load factor of 45% or greater.

This rate is pegged at 2% below Duke Energy's OPT (Economic Development) Rate.

To learn more information on this special rate please review the terms and use this application to apply.

State of South Carolina programs may be considered by City Council to be combined with any package of incentives, or to provide a stand-alone set of incentives for in-city projects located out of the eligible development area. These state programs include property tax credits, as authorized by the S.C. Abandoned Building Act, the S.C. Textiles Communities Revitalization Act, the S.C. Retail Facilities Revitalization Act, or the S.C. real property tax credit for the installation of a fire sprinkler system (see applications to the right).