Auburn’s Community Redevelopment Authority presented the amended Core Area Redevelopment Plan to the City’s Planning Commission during a public hearing held Tuesday, Nov. 19 at City Hall. The plan was amended to both provide more opportunities and funds for City projects, as well as to specify the language of the documents to appease the requests from the State Auditor.
BairdHolm lawyer Michael Sands presented to amended plan to the Planning Commission, noting on the major points that were changed. These included a division of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds collected from the increased valuation of the designated area. 85 percent of the funds will be available to the City for use in TIF eligible projects. Such projects include Courthouse Avenue Restoration, Development of Suitable Housing, Downtown Landscaping and Streetscaping and Sewer and Water Main System Infrastructure Improvements. Eli Davidson, a member of the Planning Commission, asked Sands how improvements on water and sewer infrastructure improved valuation as compared to beautification or housing. Sands mentioned that “a rising tide floats all the ships,” and explained that the if the City’s infrastructure isn’t maintained or improved, the valuation of properties may fall or stagnate, and that while it may not be as visible as landscaping, it’s no less a necessity.
The remaining 15 percent of the funds collected from the TIF will be available to small business owners who apply and are approved to improve on their properties with a TIF plan. It was explained that, compared to previous years, fewer private owner based projects are being undertaken and the CRA believes that the money that was to be specifically available to the public will go unused if trends continue. By dividing the funds in such a way that both the City and the people can apply for them, there is a better chance of the funds being used before the TIF contract is over. This “district TIF”, as it was called, was started in 2019 with an assessed property value of $49,555,056. That valuation rose to $59 million in 2020, almost $65 million in 2023 and is currently at $71 million, from which $405,278 has been drawn. The TIF will be in effect until 2033, at which point the projected valuation of the area sits at $92.7 million.
