To help local businesses weather the recession, Nevada City is proposing to reduce rent on city-owned properties by 20 percent for the next year.

City officials are hoping private landlords will join in cutting rents to keep more shops from going vacant — a growing threat.

“The city is trying to take a leadership role in helping businesses out, and it would be the city’s hope that other landlords follow suit,” Nevada City manager Gene Albaugh told The Union Monday, in outlining the recommendation. “I don’t think it will hurt the economy at all if the rents were reduced.”

The proposed reduction, if approved by the City Council at its meeting Wednesday, would affect eight properties the city owns and would cost the city $9,360 in lost revenue for the duration of the reduction. The cuts would take effect next month and run through Jan. 2010.

Reducing rents is far more cost-effective than having a business leave because of escalating rents, considering the cost of starting a new business in these economic times, according to Albaugh and Paul.

For a full report, read tomorrow's print edition of The Union.