by Jeff Quibell
14. May 2009 09:48
Residents on the west side of Blue Springs have long been asking when the city would pay more attention to Woods Chapel Road and the west side of Blue Springs. Hopefully, they may soon get their answer.
The City Council is to hold a May 18 hearing for the “Petition to Establish the Oaks at Woods Chapel Community Improvement District,” and many are eager to see the details of the proposal. Seeing the item is on the agenda is an indication that the Oaks at Woods Chapel project is again trying to move forward. With the road improvements recently approved by Blue Springs voters, there may soon be a lot of activity on the west side of town.
On the Adams Dairy Landing project, discussion in the press has centered on whether the city will provide backing for an early offering of a portion of the bonds for road improvements that have already been completed and paid for by RED Development. Councilman Ron Fowler recently wrote, “What this really comes down to is the developers profit vs. taxpayer risk.” The question under consideration has taxpayer risk on both sides of the equation. If the city takes action that allows the project to fail, there is a risk of blight created by a partially completed project at a major intersection and entrance to our city.
Councilman Fowler is correct to suggest that the council needs to carefully consider the risks to the taxpayer. This deserves meaningful council discussion and debate. Perhaps in the future we will see that debate, with each council member discussing the positive and negative aspects of the question and working together to find the best solution.
The TIF projects approved in recent years had many layers of protection built in to protect our taxpayers’ interests. One such protection deals with the profit that the developer may make in return for an investment. The TIF agreements protect our taxpayers by requiring the developer to share their profit with our city, should the project exceed the profit range detailed in the TIF agreement. Think about that for a moment. By working together with the developer and helping them succeed, the taxpayers may get a bonus by sharing in any extra profits. That certainly deserves consideration.
I encourage our leaders to carefully evaluate the details of the TIF agreement, have a meaningful discussion of the pros and cons, and then and only then make their final decision on backing the bonds.