02-12-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of the City Council FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: February 8, 2018 RE: Creation of New TIF District With the Suite Living project moving forward on the former Winter property, we need to take steps to create a new tax increment financing (TIF) district to capture that growth to assist with other redevelopment efforts. To do that, staff proposed the district indicated on the attached map. You will notice the proposed district consists of two non-contiguous areas. The first area along Rice Street encompasses the Suite Living project. It also incorporates the Pawn Shop, Liquor Store, and Mach I building. These sites should be included due to their redevelopment potential. They also help us in meeting district qualification tests. The second area along Little Canada Road includes the 93 West Office building, the chiropractor’s office at 75 LC Road, and the Bowling Alley at 61 LC Road. By including this area with the Suite Living project, we create the ability to use funds from one area to benefit another in terms of achieving our redevelopment objectives. To create a new a new TIF district, there are a number of tests that we have to pass. The two major ones that we should be concerned with are as follows: • Coverage Test – 70% of the TIF district must be occupied by buildings, streets, utilities, or paved/gravel parking lots. Each parcel must be evaluated. To be considered “occupied” 15% pf of its area must be “covered” by the required items. On the map previously referred to, the City Engineer has already completed this calculation. The areas proposed will satisfy this test. (It should also be noted that each of the non-contiguous areas needs to meets these requirements on its own.) • Blight Test – More than 50% of the buildings, not including outbuilding, must be structurally substandard to a degree requiring substantial renovation or clearance and reasonably distributed throughout the geographic area. There are two parts to this analysis. They are: 1. A building must meet the definition of “structurally substandard” meaning “containing defects in structural elements or a combination of deficiencies in essential utilities and facilities, light and ventilation, fire protection including adequate egress, layout and condition of interior partitions, or similar factors, which defects or deficiencies area of sufficient total significance to justify substantial renovation or clearance.”