Statesboro’s Downtown Tax Allocation District now has bylaws, procedures for applying for TAD funding for projects aimed at redevelopment in the district, and about $300,000 in the bank.
Before adopting the policies and procedures Thursday afternoon in the city’s Joe Brannen Hall, the TAD Advisory Committee in November had named its officers, including longtime hotel developer Doug Lambert as chair. The Nov. 29 meeting was also where the committee adopted its bylaws, subject to a few changes that had since been applied by City Attorney Cain Smith.
“We’ve got the organizational work done, the groundwork, you know, getting the bylaws and electing officers and getting the procedures for applying for projects, and I think now we’re just ready for some projects,” Lambert said after the meeting.
This panel is meant to review applications for development funding in what has sometimes been called the Blue Mile TAD. But this committee should not be confused with the Blue Mile Foundation, which controls a separate pool of money. Under a 2017 agreement that brought a share of the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners’ property tax growth from the designated district into what was originally only a city-tax fund, commissioners and the Statesboro City Council each got to name three members to the advisory committee.
City Council must ultimately approve any payouts of TAD funds. But under the agreement, the council cannot approve any project unless it is first recommended by the committee.
The bylaws call for the committee to “review all projects for feasibility and consistency with the Redevelopment Plan” and with the committee’s own policies and procedures. The committee is expected to consider “the experience of the development team, proposed capital improvements to the project site,” and financial information on each project and its developers.
The procedures call for “a standard financial evaluation.”
The committee may also look at the expected benefits of a project, such as “removal of slums and blight,” “revitalization of surrounding neighborhoods” and “job creation,” as well as any potential adverse effects.
The Creek project
The TAD Advisory Committee is also different from the steering committee for the Creek on the Blue Mile project, unveiled in December. But that project did loom over the discussion during Thursday’s TAD meeting.
“Right now the great thing we’re all focused on and thrilled about is the Creek on the Blue Mile,” committee vice chair Bill Herring said early in the hour. “That kind of reminds me of that movie, you know, about the baseball field and ‘If you build it they will come.”
The creek plan, a public-private partnership conceived by the separate Blue Mile Committee, has reportedly received a commitment – not yet confirmed with signed documents – for a $5 million state grant and a $15 million low-interest loan from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.
Herring suggested that city officials may need to look at enforcement actions to prompt improvements to one business property in the Blue Mile of South Main Street.
Committee member Scott Marchbanks said that if the committee concerns itself with design standards or code enforcement for the appearance of properties, everyone should be treated the same. Pastor Lisa Deloach, also a committee member, expressed concern about the creek project and other development displacing people who cannot afford more expensive housing.
After Herring brought up the question of whether the Bulloch County Board of Education will eventually contribute to this TAD and Marchbanks asked whether the city itself could apply for funding, Smith pointed out the advisory committee’s limited purpose.
“We’ve just got to remember what the objectives of the committee are as set out in the bylaws, and that is to actually evaluate applications as they come in,” Smith said.
$298,000 so far
As of Dec. 31, the Downtown TAD’s bank balance was $298,413, city Finance Director Cindy West reported. This was the accumulation from just city property tax growth since the TAD was established Dec. 31, 2015.
The county government’s contribution took effect only with 2018 taxes, and is expected to add about $90,000 a year or more. That check has not arrived yet, but probably will in February or March, West said.
The district extends from downtown south to Veterans Memorial Parkway and along some side streets to the east and west. Some business construction, including J.C. Lewis Ford’s recently completed relocation to inside the parkway loop and the West District mixed-use development on South College Street, is expected to add significantly to the total collected in 2019.
Since the TAD was established, the value of taxable property in the district has increased from $35.78 million to $49.54 million.
Lambert, Herring, Marchbanks and Lisa Deloach were the four members present, constituting a quorum. The other members are Wayne DeLoach and Kendria Lee, who was chosen in November as secretary of the committee.
Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.