Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver says he will not support any new tax increment financing (TIF) packages until Starkville develops clear guidelines for their implementation or until the incoming administration takes office after next year’s municipal elections.
Aldermen have used the financial incentive in the past to land significant economic investments — the Mill at MSU, Cotton Mill Marketplace, Parker-McGill car dealership and the upcoming Academy Sports development — but a second unsuccessful push by Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn for a $1.35 million-maximum TIF associated with a proposed Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in east Starkville drew an hour-long board debate and public comment session Tuesday with residents, both supporting and opposing the matter.
The Wal-Mart TIF, which would have set aside 50 percent of the development’s generated sales taxes and 100 percent of increased property taxes from its construction, failed to make it to an up-or-down vote after Ward 3 Alderman David Little was successful in removing its associated action items from the agenda.
“I think it’s time for the board of aldermen to provide some consistency about the process of TIFs,” Carver said. “They’ve been used sporadically and have been highly effective in helping maximize growth in this town, but I feel as if we need to provide some type of documentation that levels the playing field for developers, both big and small.”
To make the development financially viable for Wal-Mart Stores East LP, the business’s representatives said they needed Starkville to assist with the projected $1 million cost to construct an access road and signalize its connection with Highway 12.
Wynn, who was pushing the financing package to help deliver a grocery store to an underserved area of town and open the area up for additional development, said aldermen “dropped the ball and failed” residents by not subsidizing the development.
She warned residents that the city’s continued mishandling of economic development efforts and additional sales tax streams could force future costs on property owners.
“We only have 60 officers. For a city of this size, we’re putting you at risk,” Wynn said. “You need 10 more officers. Can I tell you something? You need to have retail to support it. Whatever board of leadership you have (next year) … you’re going to have to pay for it out of your property taxes if you don’t get some retail (to support rising municipal costs).”
Little previously opposed the TIF because the project could take away sales from existing stores — Kroger, Vowell’s and the existing Wal-Mart Supercenter in west Starkville — and because other developers have either opened new stores or have expanded their existing retail footprint without a government subsidy.
On Tuesday, he said it was time the city put the financing tool “back in the barn.”
“Every retailer is going to come forward asking us to develop their projects, and that’s not what we’re here for,” he said. “The original intent of TIF was for blighted areas that needed redevelopment. Over the years, developers have finagled their way to start using TIF money for new developments. Why can’t a private developer build that road? All we’re doing is increasing the property value for the landowner, and that’s not what the city is designed to do.”
Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker said he supported the Parker-McGill and Academy Sports TIFs because they create true public infrastructure that links existing thoroughfares. The Wal-Mart road, he said, would create “a road to nowhere.”
“It’s your prototypical Highway 12 development; it’s what has plagued Starkville from the beginning; it’s strip mentality,” Walker said. “I would love to have a grocery store on the northeast side of town. It would be much more convenient for me, but I don’t believe that it’s in the long-term and best interest of our community to give a tax break on a piece of property that’s going to develop anyway.”
Walker also took issue with Wynn’s attempt to pass a matter already decided by the board and brought back without any adjustments.
“We voted on this a month ago. (Bringing the item back later) gives a month for people to lobby other members of the board to try and get you to sway your vote. That’s not how local government should work,” he said. “How do you expect us to make a decision that’s going to be different than the one we already made?”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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