EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – Property owners in the city’s Elms Historic District might find making renovations easier financially. On July 19, the City Council approved making the area part of the city’s 353 tax abatement district via an amended ordinance. Under Chapter 353 rules, Missouri offers tax abatements to communities that have urban development corporations, or UDCs, the Department of Economic Development’s website states. The site also states UDCs can use the initiative to renovate “blighted areas by abating some or all of the property taxes for up to 25 years.” Including the Elms Historic District encourages “property owners there to be able to more easily build their property and take advantage of that tax abatement incentive,” Neighborhood Services Director Laura Mize told city leaders. The vote followed an effort by the city to fold the Elms Historic District into the tax abatement district based on studies done in October 2017 and January. The Excelsior Springs…