Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

 

TO:

David L. Corliss, City Manager

 

FROM:

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

Britt Crum-Cano, Economic Development Coordinator

 

CC:

Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager

 

Date:

 

September 13, 2011

RE:

Consideration of Revisions to the City’s Transportation Development District, Community Improvement District and Neighborhood Revitalization Act Policies

 

Background:

The City Commission has had several discussions expressing interest in clarifying certain elements of the City policies on Transportation Development Districts (TDDs), Community Improvement Districts (CIDs) and Neighborhood Revitalization Act (NRA). 

 

The Commission discussed this topic most recently at its August 23, 2011 meeting (see attached minutes).  At the meeting, the City Commission provided general direction regarding changes to the policies.  As a result of the discussion, staff has completed draft revisions to the policies as follows:

 

Transportation Development District (TDD) policy:

 

·         Added signage requirement

·         Added “but for” requirement

·         Changed the policy so that TDD funding can only be used for infrastructure the City would not normally require

 

Community Improvement District (CID) policy:

 

·         Added signage requirement

·         Added “but for” requirement

·         Requires an applicant to meet a majority of multiple eligibility criteria

·         Included a provision requiring the establishment of a cap on the amount of sales tax that can be collected, corresponding to the needs set forth by the project

·         Changed the policy to restrict CID revenue to financing public infrastructure or allow financing of all/part of private infrastructure if it goes beyond what the City requires and is exterior only (e.g. enhanced landscaping or exteriors)

·         Changed the policy to restrict its application to redevelopment (in-fill projects)

 

Neighborhood Revitalization Act policy: 

 

·         Changed the policy to establish the typical NRA rebate amount at 50% rebate on the incremental taxes collected and a ten year term; these amounts may be increased if appropriate justification is provided in the “but for” analysis

·         Tightened the eligibility criteria by requiring that a majority of the criteria be met to qualify for the NRA

·         Changed the policy to require PIRC review

·         Clarified the policy to make benefit/cost analysis mandatory

·         Added “but for” requirement

 

Signage discussion:

The draft versions of the TDD and CID policies include signage requirements.  Staff suggests including the following language for TDD/CID signage

 

Upon establishment of a TDD/CID utilizing sales tax as the source of TDD.CID revenue, the business shall have a sign prominently displayed at each entrance for the duration of time that the TDD/CID sales tax is collected.  The sign shall at a minimum contain the following:

          “Special sales tax rate of ___% collected here.”

 

Staff believes that having signage in the right-of-way or other areas in the yard of a business would detract from the City’s sign code provisions that place strong emphasis on minimizing exterior sign clutter.  After a review of the development agreements associated with existing TDD districts, Staff does not believe that the City can require businesses within existing TDD districts to have signage.  However, the City can request that they add the signage.  If signage is included in the new policies, future TDDs and CIDs will require signage consistent with the policies. 

 

Staff researched several other signage requirements for special districts.  As the City Commission has noted, Kansas has no uniform requirement for signage.  However, the City of Wichita’s CID policy requires signage for CIDs and the State of Missouri requires signage for TDD districts. 

 

The City of Wichita’s CID policy specifically states that:

 “developers will be responsible for signs being posted adjacent to the main entrance of every retail establishment within the CID where a special sales tax is charged. The signs must be at least 24 square inches in size and contain the words: “THIS PROJECT MADE POSSIBLE BY COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT FINANCING” using type face of at least 18 points in size, and “FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO WWW.WICHITA.GOV/CID” using type face of at least 12 points in size. Continuing failure to comply with this requirement will result in termination of CID reimbursement payments.”

 

The State of Missouri also requires signage for Transportation Development Districts.  The state statute requires that:

“In each transportation development district in which a sales tax has been imposed or increased under section 238.235, every retailer shall prominently display the rate of the sales tax imposed or increased at the cash register area.” (Missouri Statutes 238.280)

 

NRA Fee issue:

The NRA policy does not require an application fee.  However, generally a small portion of the first year’s increment is provided to the County as an administration fee in recognition of the amount of work that the County Appraiser does to administer these projects.  Staff just mentions this because the City does incur costs in terms of publication fees for the required public notices and also a significant amount of staff time coordinating with the applicant, the County and the School District.  On the other hand, the types of projects that are applying for NRA assistance are by their nature trying to meet a funding gap to enable the project to proceed. 

 

Requested Action:

The City Commission is requested to provide feedback regarding the proposed policy revisions.  Staff can then provide final versions for consideration.