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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Read Before Packet - 5/6/2014 - Email From Darin Atteberry To Commissioner Lew Gaiter Re Coloradoan Article: Foco Mall Redevelopment -Agenda Item 151 Sarah Kane From: Debra Unger on behalf of Darin Atteberry Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 9:42 AM To: 'Lew Gaiter' Cc: Linda Hoffmann; Neil Gluckman; swjohnson@larimer.org; Tom Donnelly; CCSL; Mike Beckstead; Sarah Kane Subject: RE: Coloradoan article: FoCo mall redevelopment (Agenda Item #15 and URA Agenda Item #2) Commissioner Gaiter, Please see the following information provided by Mike Beckstead, Chief Financial Officer, in response to your questions about the Foothills Mall redevelopment. Regards, Debra Unger Executive Administrative Assistant City Manager’s Office (970) 221-6266 Click here to Tell Me About My Service ... I Want to Know! Begin forwarded message: From: Mike Beckstead <mbeckstead@fcgov.com> Date: May 5, 2014 at 7:51:10 AM MDT To: Darin Atteberry <DATTEBERRY@fcgov.com> Subject: RE: Coloradoan article: FoCo mall redevelopment Comments in RED below Mike Beckstead CFO – City of Fort Collins 970.221.6795 From: Gerry Horak Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2014 3:11 PM To: CCSL Subject: Fwd: Coloradoan article: FoCo mall redevelopment Darin What is our response to Lew's comments. Thanks 2 Gerry Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Lew Gaiter <gaiterl@co.larimer.co.us> Date: May 4, 2014 at 10:23:49 AM MDT To: "swjohnson@larimer.org" <johnsosw@co.larimer.co.us>, Tom Donnelly <donnelt@co.larimer.co.us>, Lisa Poppaw <LPoppaw@fcgov.com>, Wade Troxell <wtroxell@fcgov.com>, Gerry Horak <ghorak@fcgov.com>, Karen Weitkunat <kweitkunat@fcgov.com>, Bob Overbeck <boverbeck@fcgov.com>, Ross Cunniff <rcunniff@fcgov.com>, Gino Campana <gcampana@fcgov.com> Cc: Linda Hoffmann <hoffmalc@co.larimer.co.us>, Neil Gluckman <ngluckman@larimer.org>, Darin Atteberry <DATTEBERRY@fcgov.com> Subject: Coloradoan article: FoCo mall redevelopment Lisa, I saw this article this morning " FoCo mall redevelopment could hinge on Tuesday vote on coloradoan.com: http://noconow.co/1kHpYlL" and it reminded me of our conversation the other day. We were talking about TIF and some of the County's concerns (among other things) . For the sake of this email I do NOT have access to my files and other specific info on this project, so this message makes some (perhaps incorrect) assumptions about the mall project. My email is designed to highlight a couple of specific statements in the article. Q: Will property taxes increase for property near the mall to pay for the project? A: Property taxes will not be raised on surrounding neighborhoods to help pay for the project. But the value of homes may go up because of improvements, which would result in higher property taxes. Does "near" include in the TIF District, but not in the mall? (I'm sure I have the answer to this at my office). If so the answer above is incorrect Only property within the Metro District boundaries (the TIF District) will see an increase in property taxes associated with development (the TIF) and the additional Metro District mills of 50 mills for capital and 10 mills for operations and maintenance. This includes the mall and the surrounding retail stores that are within the District and the to be constructed residential units. All of the property subject to the additional mills and TIF will be owned by the Developer or Macy’s. Property surrounding the District will not be impacted by the additional mills. Q: If I don't support the project, do I still have to pay taxes to help pay for it? A: No individual property tax money is going toward the mall. This answer avoids the question for any who may live IN the specific URA (does anyone live in the TIF area? - need my file). If you do live in the district your taxes will absolutely be used In this project. Even County services on this project (e. g. Restaurant Inspections for any new restaurants) will be paid for out of General Fund which means ALL property owners in all of Larimer County (within and without) municipalities will have a (probably very small) portion of their property taxes go to this project. 3 The property tax that goes into the project comes from 1) additional property tax paid by the developer associated with the additional mills established by the Metro District, 2) additional property tax paid by the developer after the project is complete and built out (the property tax increment), 3) a 1% Public Improvement Fee paid by shoppers at the mall on purchases made at the mall and 4) sales tax increment above the historical base. While the rental rates for tenants within the Mall and tenants in the apartment complex will include the added cost #1 & #2 above. No individual property owner adjacent or surrounding the mall will see an increase in property taxes associated with #1 or #2 above. There is the potential for greater appreciation in property values surrounding the mall because of the redevelopment activity within the midtown area. Consumers who elect to not support the mall can spend their dollars elsewhere. The only sales tax dollars that will go into the project are from sales that occur at the Mall. Consumers can also avoid the Public Improvement Fee (PIF) by shopping elsewhere. To me, these points in the article hit one of my bigger concerns: I really think your staff doesn't understand County services and further how TIFs impact those services. I have talked with many commissioners who were former council people and they were surprised with how much counties do behind the scenes for cities and how hard TIF is on county budgets. I really appreciate your willingness to dialog on this issue. As I've said before, we see and understand the need for the mall project. Our primary concern is the financials. HB-1375 addresses these concerns for us and the biggest change that would have happened in this case was a serious sit down to get those financials agreed to and worked out up front. Given where things currently are in the project I seriously doubt those conversations would have injected any delay into the project. Thanks for reading! Lew Lew Gaiter III Larimer County Commissioner - District 1 Sent from my handheld, please excuse any typos. Email: lgaiter@larimer.org Office: 970-498-7001 Under CO Open Records Act, all messages sent to or by me from this account may be subject to public disclosure, unless the word "private" or "confidential" is in the subject line.