STARKVILLE – Aldermen on Tuesday agreed to scale back a tax increment financing plan tied to a mixed-use development project along Highway 12 that has only partially come together since its 2015 approval.
The board, during its regular meeting at City Hall, approved an amendment to the TIF agreement for the project, which includes the Parker Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership on Parker-McGill Drive. The amendment, approved without discussion as part of the consent agenda, reduces the project’s authorized debt by $2 million and sets a one-year deadline to issue any bonds.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said the changes reflect how the project has evolved since its original approval roughly a decade ago.
“They hadn’t done all the things that were in the original TIF, and extending the bond time was based on the fact that … it was 10 years in, and they needed some more time to … get the additional funding,” she told The Dispatch following the meeting.
The original TIF agreement, approved by the city and Oktibbeha County in 2015, called for the standing dealership as well as a convenience store, a restaurant, 15 single-family housing units and 20,000 square feet of office space.
Christiana Sugg, an attorney with Gouras and Associates representing HPM Development, told the board during its Friday work session that delays from the COVID-19 pandemic and broader economic conditions have slowed progress at the site.
In exchange for extending the timeline, developer HPM Development agreed to cap financing at a single bond issuance not to exceed $1 million, down from the original $3 million authorization.
If issued, the bonds would be used to reimburse the developer for infrastructure-related costs, such as roads, utilities and drainage, not the construction of the buildings themselves. The city and county would then repay the bonds using new property tax revenue generated by the development, along with the city’s share of new sales tax revenue. The agreement does not specify a repayment term.
Original projections estimated the full development would generate about $44,090 annually in city property taxes, $101,379 for Oktibbeha County and $133,536 for the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, along with roughly $42.2 million in annual sales.
Sugg said while the standing dealership has performed well, the remaining vacant land has not generated additional activity. The property currently produces roughly $48,363 in annual sales tax revenue for the city and roughly $50,438 in ad valorem taxes for the county, according to figures from the county administrator’s office.
Still, there are plans for future development at the site.
A 5-2 vote by aldermen in February cleared the way for HPM Development to move forward with an RV Park on about 13.5 acres of land west of the existing car dealership, at the southeast corner of Old West Point and East Garrard intersection.
The proposed RV Park, Traditions Motorcoach Park, is planned to include about 72 privately owned lots expected to sell for about $100,000 each with a homeowners association overseeing maintenance and safety. Conceptual plans for the site also include pickleball courts, a dog park, a pavilion and a shower and restroom facility.
Sugg also said HPM Development has plans for a second car dealership south of the existing dealership, though she did not provide a timeline for construction.
“There are always hopes there will be another gas station or something there, but we understand the city cannot have this obligation hanging out there forever,” Sugg told the board on Friday.
Spruill said she is confident development at the site will continue to move forward.
“I certainly think the entire city is up for future development,” she told The Dispatch on Tuesday. “I have great faith that all of that will happen. It’s just a matter of when – not if.”
Other business
In other business, the board:
■ advised residents of Starkville Utilities’ energy workshops, the first of which is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 28 at the Needmore Center at 515 Spring St.; and
■ approved the engineering department’s request to advertise for bids for the Brush Arbor cemetery preservation and revitalization project.
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