While the media and the city have been busy showing us pretty pictures of the project, there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
What we do know is that the project is projected to cost around $40 million, it will have 600 public parking spaces, it will have a partially public rooftop park and it will require demolition of a few buildings to construct.
Questions,
-What kind of reimbursement will the city receive for the façade it paid for in 2007 for the building that is being demolished?
-How much money will taxpayers be putting towards the project? Will it be a loan, a TIF or a one-time payment (rumored number is $10 million)? Where will the money come from? Reserves? Bonds?
-If we are giving 25% towards the funding of the project, will the city actually OWN 25% of the building (for instance, the parking ramp portion)
-How will property taxes be assessed if we own a portion of the building? Or will we lease? And if we are leasing, why would we help fund the project?
-What is the real economic impact of the project? Besides the few hundred temp jobs it will provide in construction, how many permanent jobs? Or mostly low-paying hospitality part-time jobs?
Too often we find the ‘Devil is in the Details’. Remember the supposed $4 million dollar TIF Dunham requested for the COSTCO project that quickly got reduced after all the facts came out? If we move forward on this project like our fine mayor, planning department and community development departments usually do in a non-transparent manner – the taxpayers of the city may be getting the shaft at the end of the day.
I encourage the city council to study the options closely, and make sure the taxpayers of this town are not once again handing out money and tax breaks like candy to the developer welfare class of our community.