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City moves ahead on TIF
| [Wednesday,August 29 2007] |
Economic Development / News / News / |
In a special meeting Monday, Bowling Green City Commissioners unanimously approved the first reading of an amended ordinance that would establish the tax increment financing district behind a major downtown redevelopment plan.
The TIF district is a comprehensive mixed use redevelopment area made up of residential, office and commercial
parts, including a baseball stadium, a parking garage and other infrastructure improvements.
Changes to the ordinance were made to reflect a meeting with state officials, who made recommendations two weeks ago, according to City Manager Kevin DeFebbo. The basic terms of the TIF ordinance haven't been changed nor have any additional duties or responsibilities been imposed on the city as a result of the recommend changes, DeFebbo said.
The approved ordinance emphasizes the project as the connection to Western Kentucky University, which is why the name of the TIF district was changed to “the WKU Gateway to Downtown Bowling Green.”
Other changes included documenting the actual size of the TIF area to be 108 acres instead of 40, which was included in the original ordinance.
The ordinance also includes Doug Gorman's property, which includes the Booth Fire and Safety business on Sixth Avenue and State Street.
“The reason that this is necessary is that the benchmark for calculating the pre-TIF revenues will include Gorman's operation at the Circus Square site, since that business was operating in 2006,” DeFebbo wrote in a memo regarding the project. “If we don't include Gorman's new location, the TIF will lose revenue since Gorman's current revenues would not be included in the calculation.”
The ordinance also reduced the public capital contribution in the project, which originally include the money needed to renovate Western's Van Meter Hall, from $120 million to $100 million since the capital projects built by WKU with state funds cannot be counted as capital costs toward the project, according to DeFebbo.
The TIF ordinance is an “evolutionary document” that will be updated as needed as more things need to be clarified, DeFebbo said.
“There is a real need to move forward on this before the end of the year,” Bowling Green Mayor Elaine Walker said, because in January, when the state's General Assembly goes into session, the rules for what can be included in the TIF district and other rules will change.
The second reading of the TIF district ordinance is expected to be Sept. 4 at the Bowling Green City Commission's regular meeting.
Once the second reading for the ordinance is passed it will go to a committee with the General Assembly, hopefully by October or November, according to city officials. |
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