The city may have to hold off on building a road between Routes 31 and 4 after Marysville Schools expressed distaste for an update to the Cook’s Pointe tax increment financing (TIF) district.
Marysville City Council voted Monday night to indefinitely table an ordinance that would appropriate about $4.9 million to build an extension of Mill Road and utilities out to Route 4.
“It’s unfortunate that the school has been unable to work this out with us, but we don’t have $4.9 million sitting in our back pocket,” said council member Mark Reams.
The action was the result of a special Marysville School Board meeting Monday morning, where members expressed concerns over an updated Cook’s Pointe TIF that the city hoped would pay for the road.
The school board didn’t agree with the city’s optimism. While the board agreed that the land would be developed, they were skeptical it would be enough to pay dividends.
“At this point for me, it’s kind of a leap of faith,” said board member Dick Smith.
A TIF is meant to fund infrastructure improvements using its own revenue. Equations applied to TIFs vary from area to area, but in essence, the new TIF allows the city to put in the road and use future tax revenue to pay down the project expenses.
Schools are often players in TIFs, because they get dollars generated from development. Under the old TIF agreement, signed in 2015, Marysville Schools get about 49 percent of tax revenue generated by the property as the project develops. The new agreement has the schools getting 100 percent of the tax money remaining after the debt service is paid.
According to City Manager Terry Emery, the TIF signed two years ago may have been “premature.” He said in recent talks with the owners of the property, there are no concrete plans for new development in the area. The city wants the school district to partner in the agreement so the development can move forward.
The road that would be funded with the new agreement, Emery told the Journal-Tribune, would help spur the growth in the area the city hasn’t seen yet.
“The way we look at it, nothing has evolved,” he said. “We believe the road construction will initiate that development.”
Then, after 15 years, the school district would simply collect property taxes for the land as it normally would.
In an interview with the Journal-Tribune, Marysville Schools Treasurer Todd Johnson said all of that funding is merely hypothetical at this point.
Since there has been no development on the land, the schools are only collecting $4,200 of property tax per year.
The updated agreement still has that amount going to the schools.
At the board meeting, Smith reiterated his stance. He said while he sees that the agreement is a “great opportunity for cooperation,” he doesn’t see any movement on the side of the developers.
City Finance Director Justin Nahvi said a new agreement with both parties is possible, but had no information on what the city’s next steps would be.
“There’s always potential renegotiation with the school or the property owner,” he said.
Emery said he hopes the city can figure out a way to fund the road.
He said the road wouldn’t only spur development; it would improve access for the fire department, and ease traffic congestion in the area.
“At the end of the day, we understand the way (the schools are) looking at it,” Emery said. “We just don’t necessarily agree.”
In other council news:
-Council member Nevin Taylor told council he’s meeting with Boerger Road residents this week to discuss and walk around the site of the proposed housing development on Boerger Road and Route 38.
-Elizabeth Mosser updated council on the project to restore the Avalon Theater Uptown, including a recap of what the project hopes to achieve, and more possible avenues of funding.