The fate of an $11 million, 65,000-square-foot retail project is unknown after Starkville officials nixed a closed-door discussion on a possible tax increment financing (TIF) package for the investment Tuesday.
Golden Triangle Development LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins, in an interview with The Dispatch on Wednesday, would only say the project is a national athletic and outdoor merchandise chain with a possible restaurant site. It would locate behind Sweet Peppers Deli in west Starkville, planning and zoning documents state.
An agenda item listing the “transaction of business and discussion or negotiation regarding the location of business” was scheduled for an executive session discussion by Starkville aldermen Tuesday. It was pulled from the agenda prior to the meeting at the suggestion of Mayor Parker Wiseman, however.
This action came after Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins, who identified the potential discussions as TIF-specific, said in an emailed statement to The Dispatch prior to Tuesday’s meeting that Mississippi law does “not allow the board to go into executive session” for the specific matter.
The exact TIF request remains undisclosed by the LINK and by aldermen.
‘Four or five years in development’
Higgins took aim at Starkville leaders Wednesday and said the board’s lack of interest in discussing the retail project creates dissonance after all seven aldermen and the mayor campaigned on pro-business platforms.
“This project has been four or five years in development,” Higgins said. “The developer is ready to go. The TIF guy is ready to go…the board? All I hear is that the city council ran on getting more retail, but they don’t think we’re getting enough retail. How many 65,000-square-foot big boxes are coming along on a daily basis?”
Higgins said many Starkville aldermen have been reluctant to meet with LINK officials to discuss ongoing projects. Higgins mentioned The Dispatch’s previous coverage of Columbus leaders’ violation of the Mississippi Open Meetings Act and multiple ethics violations filed by Starkville residents this term. (The city of Columbus has appealed the state Ethics Commission ruling that it violated the Open Meetings Act last year.)
Higgins said he was aiming to introduce the proposed new project to Starkville’s seven aldermen in executive session Tuesday and did not need any action to be taken. Mississippi law states that “transactions of business and discussions or negotiations regarding the location, relocation or expansion of a business or industry” can be held behind closed doors.
“We were trying to do something that, by everybody’s accounts, is legal,” Higgins said. “This was only supposed to be informational. The developer wants to (begin construction) in February. How many meetings does the city have until then? We wanted to introduce the project with the developer there and let the aldermen think about it through the holidays. We’d then would have come back in January for two public meetings. There would have been no surprises before they actually take a vote because then they would have been briefed.”
‘This is problematic’
Higgins’ staff was told Monday that a majority of Starkville aldermen would not support keeping the item on the agenda. The LINK then told the developer and others intertwined with the project to cancel their plans to be at the meeting, according to Higgins.
“This is problematic,” he said. “I’m frustrated beyond belief that we have one of our communities with a major opportunity in front of them, but we weren’t even allowed to come make a pitch. What signal must this be sending (to developers)?
“We’re playing for all the marbles,” Higgins added. “It’s like when Starkville didn’t have a site for Yokohama, and we found one in West Point. If this project was to come to another community, it would be open arms and ‘Please come in.'”
A communication breakdown between the board and the LINK is apparent after The Dispatch spoke with two aldermen this weekend regarding Perkins’ email. Both aldermen said they were unaware of the specifics associated with the proposed TIF discussions and the project itself.
TIFs help fund improvements to properties that could generate more revenue through ad valorem and sales tax growth. City and county governments can choose the incremental amount of those new taxes to satisfy indebtedness created for the improvements.
TIFs have most recently been approved for HPM Development’s proposed car dealership on Highway 12, Mark Castleberry’s Mill at MSU and a redevelopment project at Middleton Court.
Starkville aldermen and Oktibbeha County supervisors routinely hold two public hearings on TIF packages before taking a vote on the matter.
In June, Perkins was the lone vote against a HPM’s $3 million-maximum improvement TIF for the proposed $21.9 million project, which includes office space, a convenience store, restaurant and numerous single-family homes on almost 26 acres of land near Mississippi State University.
At that meeting, Perkins said he opposed the matter because it diverts taxes away from the city’s coffers. He signaled his intent to oppose future tax waivers for new businesses because others have opened their doors in Starkville without requesting or requiring tax abatements.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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