THE GUARDIAN learned today via a public records request Caldwell East Urban Renewal Agency will add another $10.4 Million debt (obligation) and hand the money over to Canyon County Commissioners to build a new administrative building. This is an "estimated obligation" at this point in time and will start in 2015 and extend through to 2022 at the rate of $1, 300,000/year for eight years on the easy pay plan for Caldwell taxpayers.
There will be no vote of the people to authorize this obligation but Caldwell citizens will be on the hook to pay for this new county building debt created by CEURA to offset property taxes foregone to the county tax collector.
The new County Admin. Building will be located across the street from the existing courthouse in the current parking lot. Parking will have to be expanded on each side of the new administrative building at 12th and Albany on the east side and 11th and Albany on the west side and will eventually extend to the 10th Avenue overpass if all goes according to plan.
THE GUARDIAN learned of this expansion plan based on a $50K study done by an architectural firm hired by County Commissioners. The plan calls for a $30 Million building but it appears the first phase will be limited to $10.4 Million from CEURA and the good people of Caldwell. Cash from CEURA will start to flow in 2015 at the rate of $1,300,000 per year for the next eight years through 2022.
Here's a link to the Statesman article (today, 2-22-2012) by Kristin Rodine but no mention of the $10.4 MM for new admin. office space.. http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/02/21/2002975/planning-for-canyon-countys-building.html
Would someone explain to me like I am a 6 year old the details of why the confounding City of Caldwell would owe, or be compelled to donate Urban Renewal money or anything else of value to the County of Canyon, in the state of obvious BLISS.
ReplyDeleteThe short answer is: CEURA agreed to give back $10MM to the County when they formed the URA. CEURA has now spent all the money up to the agency sunset date and will now extend taxpayer obligations to Canyon County beyond the sunset of the agency in 2014.
DeleteA better explanation of this can probably be had from Mayor Nancolas or City Finance Director Eljay Waite @ ph. 455-4638.
dave says,
ReplyDeleteThe major issue is the misuse of urban renewal. It is being used not to stimulate economic growth, but to shield the county from a bond election. The net effect will be to put a parcel of land permanently off the tax rolls.
They are following the same route Ada County took. The Ada Courthouse was effectively owned by the urban renewal agency--not the county. The lease agreement is absurd and impossible to comprehend.
How is this even possible? If this is true, the creative financing for this will make tvcc look like a good deal. I am vastly concerned. This better be downtown.
ReplyDeleteCanyon County does not need a new building. The commishies need to stop spending taxpayer money and make do with what they have now! If there is not enough room for all the county workers, fire enough workers so that there is room! The City of Caldwell should renege on what ever backroom deal they made with the commishies to pay $10,000,000.00. When will the Canyon County Commissioners and Caldwell City mayor and counselors stop mugging the taxpayers? JUST STOP THE SPENDING!
ReplyDeleteAnd either the Press/Tribune looks into this and does a story, or they are accomplices in this underhanded redistribution.
ReplyDeleteUR Districts have been stealing from the countys for years. About time some of that money came back where it belongs
ReplyDeleteOne has to ask a question here. Is this Plan B on getting a new detention facility built? Nampa knew that if they put the so called police building to vote that it would fail. So they automatically went to Plan B to get it built.
ReplyDeleteIs there a written copy of this agreement (hopefully dated) regarding the 10 million, that might shed or puke a little light on this subject. This issue of Urban Renewal keeps unraveling like skins off an onion but has a much stronger odor.
ReplyDeleteYou can get with Comm. Steve Rule on the County Campus Plan for expansion. Comm. Rule share the contents of the plan and referenced the money due to the county in our meeting that written documentation exists between the county and Caldwell. My public records request to Caldwell City Officials yielded the spread sheet documenting "County Project" on line 44 of that spread sheet in the amount of $1.3 Million for each of the 8 years following the sunset of CEURA in 2014. I also received a spreadsheet showing the property tax revenue diverted to CEURA from taxing entities in the UR district.
DeletePaul
Joyce Griffith writes..
ReplyDeleteSo we tax the taxing districts so we can add new construction for whatever the City Council decides to build, and the taxing districts have nothing to say about it and neither do the tax payers. Is that it?
I should write a white paper on this topic.
Joyce
At what point in time does Nancolas, his henchman Waite, and the members of the Caldwell City Council get fitted for their orange jumpsuits?! For 12 years we have heard Nancolas claim how much good they’ve done for the City with projects like the YMCA or TVCC through the CEURA, but truth is they have stolen from the taxpayers to become slum lords. Money siphoned off to the CEURA has been used to fund no growth & tax exempt projects. $1mil to the Y per year for the last 7 years, the TVCC joke, and now this – it is absolutely insulting. It’s not just stealing taxpayers’ money, but it’s reducing services to the City also. This money would go to essential services, but is only paying for projects that will see no return and cost taxpayers until 2022. City employees have been robbed, the firefighters who took a 5% pay cut have been robbed, the police officers who are at greater risk due to lack of staffing are being robbed; and service levels, safety services will suffer while crime will increase. Nancolas must have gone platinum by now for the “Song & Dance” he’s sold to Caldwell!
ReplyDeleteYou have to hand it to Mayor Nancolas and his urban renewal crew. This is just fantastic way to indenture Caldwell taxpayers for another $10.4MM. Also, you have to hand out the sleight of hand award to the Commishes for dodging any exposure to a voter approved bond election.
DeleteMy solution would be to declare victory with the TVCC experiment and thank them for their good (but redundant) efforts and terminate the TVCC occupancy downtown. The next step would be to hand the keys to the building over to the Commishes and call the deal with them settled. This would bring County Business Offices downtown and probably some people with some money in their pockets to help create the "critical mass" they thought would happen with TVCC.
TVCC continues at half rent ($250k/yr), a stagnant enrollment, and now CEURA just started paying the water, sewer and trash bills for TVCC. This is an Oregon based college and is redundant to College of Western Idaho. What happens when CEURA sunsets in 2014 with this albatross on Caldwell taxpayers?
The other option is to "legitimize" the new Canyon County Administrative building with a BOND ELECTION with the full faith and credit of taxpayers.
DeleteHere's something new for Mr. Nancolas, Mr. Dale and the Canyon County BOC, CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.
ReplyDeleteAll this taxing of the taxing districts to funnel money to your various projects with urban renewal and never saying NO! to anything you want to do has reached the point it isn't appreciated anymore.
We can't afford a jail but we can afford a new admin building we don't really need? Huh? What in the world is going thru the minds of those 3 idgets they call commissioners? Sorry, forgot guys, nothing is going thru those brains as they all had frontal lobotomy's when they took office. Another poster above has it right. We have police, fire and other emergency services taking huge tax hits thanks to Urban renewal siphonage, and yet the three amigos think it's time to build a new executive palace for themselves? Administration building? Ummmmm sounds suspisously like the commishes want their own multi million dollar playhouse. How about refurbishing Trolley Square? A lot cheaper alternative methinks, and it would help preserve a part of Caldwells history. I am thoroughly disgusted with all three of them and am willing to vote for who ever runs against them.
ReplyDeleteGot it right about the three amigos guvment here. Who buys off who to skirt the law and embezzle the taxpayer out of their hard earned dollar.
Delete