A group of citizens from Economic Development group in Caldwell approached Caldwell East Urban Renewal for funding of a blight removal project in downtown Caldwell. Below is a copy of the response motion in this matter from CEURA, the urban renewal agency for Caldwell:
"Update on downtown development concept from Business Recruitment & Expansion
Committee (“BR&E”) presented by Steve Fultz. The BR&E Committee met with developers
and various consultants to develop a proposed incentive package for a mixed use development
in downtown Caldwell. The incentive package includes potential URA funding up to
$1,000,000 through URA’s Business Incentive Grant incentive program that is currently
available. BR&E is requesting a commitment letter from URA to include in the developer
incentive package.
URA commissioners clarified that Urban Renewal can provide incentive dollars for economic
development, but can’t buy property to give to a developer. The incentive program currently in
place is available to a developer if job creation and other required criteria are met. The
commissioners further clarified that tax revenues continue to decrease and, while the URA
Board of Commissioners has every intention of continuing the Business Incentive Grant
program that is currently in place, the board is not able to guarantee that the program will be
available for the next four years. All commissioners indicated support of the project and a
desire to assist where appropriate and fiscally able.
Page 2 of 3
Motion to draft a letter in support of the project and offer potential funding through the
Business Incentive Grant program currently in place, noting that the program operates on a
year-to-year basis and that it is the intent of the current Board of Commissioners to continue
funding this program for the next four years as the budget allows: Hopper/Hardin M/S/P"
(here's a link to CEURA minutes) http://www.caldwellonline.org/files/000031/CEURA/CEURA%20Minutes%20100411.pdf
The tea leaves in this case suggest no funding for the project by CEURA. Urban Renewal laws were created by the Idaho Legislature to deal with blight in dilapidated cities in Idaho. The reality is quite a different story when you look at where all the property tax money deferred to UR actually went over the lives of these agencies. It is and will remain a loophole for cities to skirt bond elections until the legislature puts a permanent fix to this problem.
The millions collected via CEUR have been spent on warm and fuzzy projects that give an instant gratification to Caldwell. Everybody loves the Y, the beautiful Indian Creek project, providing inexpensive education to its citizens. Indirectly, however, these same projects are limiting revitalization of the town as a whole. Why? Not a single one of these projects (along with parks, parking lots, sidewalks, etc), funded with UR monies, has returned a single penny back to the tax base. Thus, we (those of us left) have to pick up the tab for the dead weight not being carried by those investments. Looking at each project separately, they could easily be quantified as good for the community. Collectively, however, too much money has spent on non income producing ventures. The balance of services provided to the community and the means to pay for those services has been skewed and Caldwell is in desperate need of new tax contributing ventures to help re center the balance needed to create sustainability of the promises made. Case in point: The YMCA is a great community tool, funded by CEUR to the tune of approx $1,000,000/year. So, what happens when CEUR money runs out?
ReplyDeleteI am baffled that the UR board does not think it's acceptable to buy a property and give it to a developer. Isn't this the whole purpose of UR? I've always interpreted that UR was in place to buy blithe, demolish the improvements, and sell well below market value to developers to motivate growth, and, thus, tax dollars back into the base. URBAN RENEWAL, if you will.
Having no growth without any debt is one thing, at least we start at zero as a community trying to revitalize. Caldwell, conversely, has managed to spend itself into a hole that will have to be filled before we see revitalization-No growth and massive debt. Maybe I’m off base here, but ask yourself how, when the economy eventually turns for the better, Caldwell will be able to compete with, say Eagle, (I would even throw Homedale in for comparison for those who argue we will never be an Eagle) where the taxes are lower and they have more across the board to offer, when we are still repaying the taxes spent on feel good projects in Caldwell?
The money is gone, the spending spree party is over, and now all we're left with is the hangover of tax debt and CEUR's promise "in writing" that they support any new tax paying endeavor coming to downtown. Frame that and put it on your wall and see how well that incentivizes growth.
The CEUR board has taken UR spending so far away from its original intent it's become a disgrace and the people of Caldwell should demand Eljay's resignation and run him out of town.
At the very least, the voters of Caldwell should vote out all incumbents at every level and start fresh. I for one am not going to fall for the "fresh baked cookies great day to live in Caldwell I'm on the verge of great things” or the “just imagine how bad things would have been had I not been your mayor/city councilmen/finance director so re elect me" mantra. The time has come for change, even if it is a scary proposition to step away from the comfort of 12 years of status quo and into the unknown of Caldwell’s tomorrow.
To the first comment above, AMEN, my sentiments exactly. Next on the public servants list are user fees like the storm water assessment (thanks Nampa for the super idea) for property owners and who knows what else. I'm sure these guys have trips planned to Kaulifornia (the land of bilk the taxpayer schemes) to find new revenue stimulating ideas. The only chance Caldwell has is for the taxpayers/citizens of this blighted burrow to gird up their loins and drag themselves to vote in a couple weeks and vote AGAINST the incumbents, then hunker down and try to survive two years until the next election and do it again. Its a long dark tunnel for Caldwell.
ReplyDeleteTHE SHAME OF IT ALL SAYS....
ReplyDeleteOnce you figure out where the money comes from, urban renewal looks like legalized theft of property taxes. It has taken me a considerable amount of time and effort to become clear on the fact that Urban Renewal is not some local agency to manage federal grant money but is nothing more than a group of mayoral appointed people hand picked to carry out the political agenda of the Mayor and City Council with property tax dollars legally shifted to CEURA and no checks and balances with this appointed board.
Clearly some beneficial things have been done with UR money but ten's of millions have been spent on fluff and questionable things over the years.
I would like to see a return to a time when voters had some say in big dollar community projects beyond the daily needs to fund local government. There is nothing done by urban renewal that could not be accomplished by a bond election and community participation . I am really not pleased to see (after it is all said and done) Caldwell's downtown is still a very blighted area, it is worse off today than before urban renewal with less business and commercial activity along with the flight of things like the SW District Health Offices now gone from downtown.
Downtown Caldwell did not receive the money and attention from urban renewal it deserved and as a result it will continue to be a community eyesore with a very nice streamside park addition along Indian Creek. Future efforts to "revitalize" downtown will be met with skepticism by taxpayers given the mismanagement of urban renewal by the CEURA board, the Mayor and City Councilors of Caldwell.
Upon reading the minutes from the link above, it dumbfounds me as to these "Commissioners" logic that you must pay a "consultant" to bribe/pay an organization/business to locate in Caldwell. Maybe they should pay me to stay. Id settle for cutting property taxes/user fees/expenses a little instead of finding ways to increase them. The real push for downtown redevelopment/UR grants/etc comes from owners of property in that area. I'm no better. I don't want any taxpayer money spent on that sorry part of Caldwell because it won't help my property values or my chance of unloading it a bit and I don't want to pay for it. Also its an obviously pathetic investment that will never pay off.
ReplyDeleteProponents of UR would have you think there is no way to fund anything "but for urban renewal"and "but for urban renewal no new development would happen.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is we have bond elections to finance big ticket (capital improvement) projects "but for urban renewal" we wouldn't have any of the projects like TVCC downtown, the YMCA, all of the water and sewer additions east of I-84, the Indian Creek project and other things.
Here is what the framers of the Idaho Constitution had to say about long term debt not approved by voters...
ReplyDelete"The Proviso Clause in Article VIII, Section 3
Article VIII, section 3 of the Idaho Constitution, in its original form, 18 was intended by the framers to be a strict limitation onmunicipalities’ ability to incur permanent or extraordinary indebtedness. 19 Based on article 11, section 18
of the California Constitution, 20 the framers of the Idaho Constitution believed in the necessity of the restriction on debt and liabilities was fueled by their awareness of the financial ruin of municipalities around the West that had incurred significant indebtedness in an effort to aid private enterprise and had been left to pay the bill when those enterprises failed."
Here's a link where the above quote was taken:
http://www.idhfa.org/QUA[1].pdf
Urban Renewal simply gets around the Idaho Constitutional ban on long term debt w/o voter approvals.
To the people who say that the tvcc building has not brought money into Caldwell: Tvcc is paying the city $200,000 this year $240,000 next year and by year 6, it will be paying Caldwell $358,000 a year for the building. More than what the buildings that were there would have brought in with property tax.
ReplyDeleteTVCC is paying rent on half of the building while occupying all of it except the coffee shop. Add to this they were given $1million to buy furnishings, like desks, computers etc to equip it as a school because Oregon would not fund this project. All of the things associated with TVCC cost Caldwell taxpayers somewhere north $8 million when the costs of the building, land, furnishings, parking lots and other maintenance items paid for my the city/UR.
ReplyDeleteTVCC is not even covering the depreciation of the building now and nor will they be paying this amount when they reach $358k/yr. for rent. TVCC is a redundant education facility and it has no hope of expansion where it currently exists.
Add to the costs to Caldwell Taxpayers, TVCC sends 20% of their gross revenue from student fees back to Oregon.
It has been reported to THE GUARDIAN student numbers are down this Fall at TVCC Caldwell.
WAKE UP!
ReplyDeleteNobody is really sure what the actual investment is into TVCC, but given the full blown market value purchase price of the properties (which jacked up tax assessments city wide), the upgrade to LEEDS gold standard (Both new Caldwell schools are only built to SILVER standard because you have to pay a huge fee to be gold certified as opposed to Silver, in addition to the above and beyond building improvements), the $1 million dollar kicker in Personal Property to get TVCC to commit, and the ZERO dollars it produces in property tax (on the most prime piece of the jewel of Indian Creek frontage), I'd say we're pushing the $10 million dollar mark, to be conservative.
Let's also factor in the fact that TVCC was going to save downtown because of all that critical mass. What was it? 1000 students a day? So much traffic that we're, without a doubt, going to have to build a parking garage at KINGS.
Kicken Kups bought into that and put their whole lives savings into a coffee shop down the street. They are now broke.
Oh, and did I mention the whole deal was built for a tenant who can only commit to a year to year lease and isn't even from Idaho?
So let's summarize:
$250k/yr income minus depreciation minus inflation minus GOLD LEED minus $1 million dollar Personal Prop deal sweetener minus lack of property tax income minus risk/reward for a year2year lease minus zero catalyst results for downtown = crappy ROI.
Open your eyes Anon. Quit buying into the swooning of Mack the Knife at the stage at the Indian Creek Festival.