City Council OKs 30 more years of DDA tax captures

At its meeting on Feb. 16, the Belleville City Council approved the Downtown Development and TIF Plan 2015 Amendment that keeps the DDA in place for another 30 years.
At the public hearing on the plan, Mike Renaud, who sits on the planning commission, spoke against the proposal which allows the DDA to capture much of the city’s tax income.
“I’m all for the downtown,” Renaud began. “We’ve really dressed it up. Now, it should be just ongoing maintenance.”
He pointed out that out of every tax dollar, the DDA gets 40 cents and the city gets the rest. He said 26 years ago, the city got the whole dollar.
But then the DDA was organized and the tax base grew from $7.5 million to $32 million.
“We had a 30-year plan that included Victoria Commons,” he said.
“Now, we’re saying we want to keep the same plan base for another 30 years,” Renaud said.
The DDA does give the city money for maintenance of the district, but the city has under-funded pension and medical accounts and some of the employees haven’t had raises in eight years, he said.
“I’ve been here 15 years and only one new building has been put up – and it’s not the DDA’s fault.”
He said they have to look at the DDA’s tax capture this year of $733,000. The city gets $1.1 million in taxes and 40% of every dollar goes to the DDA fund.
“The city can’t pay its employees,” he said, proposing the city take Victoria Commons out of the DDA and reset the start point. He said he knows there’s a tax advantage, but he can’t begin to figure that out.
“We put together this document and nobody looks at it,” Renaud said of the DDA/TIF (tax increment financing) plan being approved.
He said the city provides police support for the DDA district and the police get 1993 dollars. He suggested the assessments to the DDA aren’t enough.
“The rest of the city is really struggling,” Renaud said.
Later, DDA Coordinator Carol Thompson said that the DDA is trying to arrest the deterioration of downtown. The taxes paid to the community college, library, and metroparks stay in the city of Belleville with a TIF plan.
Thompson said the better part of a year was spent planning this amendment and they are not changing boundaries of the district. The last change to the plan was in 2006.
She said the drop in revenue in 2008 led the DDA to look at the income projected. She said the tax captures are only estimates through 2046.
She said the 1993 Victoria Commons bond was paid off in 2014.
Renaud said everything the DDA does is pretty much beautification and the plan does not include building businesses. He said millions of dollars are spent in the district and short of building a city hall complex, he doesn’t know what they will spend all that money on.
“The DDA doesn’t give anything for police and fire and the city has laid off most of the DPW Department,” Renaud said. “I think the city is hand-cuffing itself.
“As long as almost half of the city’s money … will be in the DDA over the next five years, the city will find itself handcuffed,” Renaud said.
Mayor Kerreen Conley, who sits on the DDA, said the DDA has bonds out there that rely on the revenue stream. And, the city would risking losing the $300,000 of taxes if it did away with the DDA.
“We have no real way of getting big-ticket items, such as a fire truck,” said Fire Chief Brian Loranger. “I have a 26-year-old fire truck. We used to have a vehicle fund, which closed down when we got our last truck.”
Mayor Conley said, with a big smile, that the DDA made a capital contribution to the city, but it did not purchase the fire truck because that isn’t allowed.
“I can keep asking,” Chief Loranger said.
Renaud stated he was not anti-DDA, and, “I’m just trying to see a balance.”
“We’ve done a lot to get our community ready and people want to see development,” said Mayor Conley. “The economy has not been on our side.”
Councilman Tom Fielder made the motion to accept the amendment as presented, Councilman Tom Smith seconded and the council unanimously passed the motion.
In other business at the Feb. 16 meeting, the council:
• Heard a report on the audit of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 by James Wilde of Alan C. Young & Associates that showed a city living within its means and trying to stay within the budget. He said expenses were down and revenue was up. “Every department came in under budget with no line items over,” Wilde said. “That is extremely rare.” Revenue was $2,325,713, expenditures $2,063,650 and fund balance at the end of the year was $1,024,017;
• Approved Central Business Community’s requests to hold Flop E. Bunny’s visit at Victory Park from noon to 2 p.m., March 26, and the Taste of Belleville after the Bridge Walk on Aug. 18. The CBC request to hold Booville at Fourth Street Square the whole month of October was not considered, since it had no details at all. City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said the council will be considering a resolution to hold Booville in the city for the month of October;
• Approved the Belleville Strawberry Festival 2016 Responsibility Policy, Administrative Policy, and the Chamber of Commerce’s plans for Strawberry Festival carnivals, with slight adjustments;
• Approved the widening of the Wolverine pipeline swathe by adding another 16” pipe 48” deep, taking up 50’ of the easement instead of 33’ and clearing of trees in the easement, which is on city property behind Harbour Pointe subdivision and the high school. The city is offered $2,520 and private property owners have been approached as well. The 35 mile long pipeline goes from Freedom Township to next to Metro Airport in Romulus and goes through Van Buren Township. Attorney Hitchcock said they probably will wait to begin installing the pipe until they’ve got permission to cut across Romulus property near the DPW/Animal Shelter;
• Heard a report from Councilwoman Kim Tindall that the committee that was assigned to review the Animal Control Ordinance has met and recommend the city not change the ordinance;
• Approved $119,275.50 in accounts payable and the following in excess of $500: ES&S, election coding, general fund, $1,554.96; Fuller Appraisal, municipal property, general fund, $9,000; John E. Reid & Associates, training, police budget, $770; Oakland Co. Treasurer, quarterly payment, police budget, $2,495; SLC, inventory replacement, water department, $1,719.40; and Wayne Co. Accounts Receivable, Dickerson Facility, police budget, $1,050; and
• Went into closed-door session with attorney Hitchcock to consider the purchase of real property prior to obtaining an option or lease.