The Bulloch County Board of Education recently moved toward participating in Statesboro’s Tax Allocation District for the South Main Street area after hearing from Blue Mile revitalization plan supporters.
The board voted unanimously Jan. 18 to have Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson, board Chair Mike Sparks and attorneys develop a “documented agreement” with representatives of the city. Any agreement will have to be brought back to the board for approval.
Tax Allocation District, or TAD, legislation devotes growth in property tax revenue within the defined area to public projects meant to spur and assist redevelopment. It does not increase millage rates, but relies on new construction and rising market values. The TAD, centered on the South Main corridor but branching out along side streets, has been in effect for Statesboro’s city tax collections since Dec. 31, 2014.
The Bulloch County commissioners, in an agreement signed Oct. 25, committed a share of growth in the county government’s revenue, beginning this year, to the TAD fund. But the Board of Education has its own tax rate and must decide separately whether to participate.
“We’re talking about the Blue Mile, but we believe it’s countywide because it creates an environment that can be enjoyed by all residents and attracts business and investment that lead to job creation throughout the community,” Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce President Phyllis Thompson told the board.
TAD advocates
Thompson, Downtown Statesboro Development Authority Executive Director Allen Muldrew and longtime Blue Mile Committee leaders Keely Fennell and Darron Burnette talked to the eight Board of Education members during their Jan. 18 meeting.
Two years ago, in January 2016, the Chamber of Commerce board unanimously voted to encourage the Board of Education to consider participating in the TAD, Thompson noted. She called it “a sustainable funding tool for the revitalization of our community’s historic downtown core.”
TAD money could be used for infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalks and lighting, or for cleaning up dilapidated property, Muldrew said. These things would be meant to assist or encourage private investment.
Not ABC funds
More than $1 million that Statesboro won with the Blue Mile plan in the America’s Best Communities competition in 2016 and 2017 is now under the control of the local nonprofit Blue Mile Foundation.
But the TAD funding is separate and remains under the Statesboro City Council’s control. Under the city-county agreement, the council cannot approve any projects for TAD funding unless they are recommended by the TAD Advisory Committee.
City Council appointed three members to the advisory committee, and the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners appointed three. The Board of Education also would get to appoint three committee members if it joins the existing agreement.
At the time the TAD was created, the district encompassed 2.1 percent of the total value of Bulloch County’s property tax digest, Thompson noted. The TAD study also projected a potential for $150 million in new development that would add 460,000 square feet of new retail space.
The TAD advocates argued that the school system is uniquely positioned to gain from growth in retail sales. The Bulloch County Schools receive both the county’s regular Local Option Sales Tax and an Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Together, these amount to 2 percent in taxes on nonexempt sales.
“Really, this is the BOE investing in this area to help, and we’re going to get a return,” Sparks said during the discussion.
Gains vs. risk
Meanwhile, the school system would continue to receive its full share of property tax on the property values that existed in the Tax Allocation District on Dec. 31, 2014.
Instead of giving up all growth in property tax revenue from the area based on the Board of Education’s millage rate, the board could limit its contribution to matching the TAD revenue generated by city taxes, Muldrew said. This is in effect what the county government agreed to do with its promised contribution.
With property tax revenue previously flat or depressed within the designated area, Wilson saw potential gains far exceeding risks, he said. He recommended “committing to building the documented agreement between the Board of Education and the city of Statesboro regarding the TAD.”
Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.