More on the IRMC TIF
Submitted by civil on March 21, 2009 - 12:57pm
This was printed in the Examiner on either Mar. 11 or 12, 2009. If anybody out there can understand it I would appreciate being enlightened. I am especially interested in the discussion following priority four.
Centertpoint TIF “is composed of economic activity taxes (or EATs) and payments in lieu of taxes (or PILOTS), said Jim Harlow, city director of finance and administration. He said the Independence Regional Medical Center TIF contains little in sales tax as a revenue source. The TIF also includes interest income in its own special allocation fund.
Within uses of the IRMC TIF revenue are six separate priority categories.
Priority one encompasses the Blue Springs School District and city transportation. Centerpoint, located at 19600 E. 39th St., is within the Blue Springs School District.
The city will pay the school district out of a debt service that was issued in 2007, Harlow said.
Priority two in the TIF includes four separate debt services that were issued in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and one that will be issued in 2010.
Priority three involves the city reimbursing the developer because the city had paid HCA through the issuance of obligations, Harlow said.
Priority four includes more than $3.1 million that the city intends to issue in obligations next year.
Priority five is the source of controversy and decision making for the Independence Regional Medical Center TIF Plan Advisory Committee. The city lists $10 million available to the IRMC renovation and $2 million available to the Medical Center of Independence renovation. Each project would receive its funding in a pay-as-you go fashion through 2019.
“If there’s enough money in the revenue column to pay debt services in priority two, payments should be received with the two projects,” Harlow said, “but the city makes no guarantees on exact projected amounts.”
Because renovation of the two closed hospitals is a priority, there will be no IRMC TIF funds available for the Midtown Truman Road corridor improvements, Harlow said. However, if the IRMC renovation starts generating revenue, its TIF funds will go toward Midtown Truman Road improvements, he said.
The IRMC TIF final priority is the Independence School District. The school district is willing to put its $5.5 million toward the redevelopment of the Independence Regional Health Center, with an ownership interest in the property.
City staff recommended the $10 million and $2 million figures based on a 2008 analysis of what it would take to return each hospital to a green site. “
Priority 5 seems to indicate that the city has allocated $10M for IRMC and $2M for MCI. and it would appear this allocation was made prior to the recent TIFcommittee meeting. So, was the meeting just an exercse done because it was required by law, but the outcome had been predetermined? Also, it appears both the $10M and $2M figures are for returning both sites to a “green site”. I assume that means all structures on both sites are to be razed and replaced with a green lawn? If not why does either site require TIF funds totaling $12M? To only raze small portions of each site should not require anywhere near this amount. Finally, tthe proposed renovation of IRMC is to be as a non-profit. How wiill it be generating revenue?
I am also interested in an explanation of the paragraph beginning “If there’s enough money..” and how did ISD gain $5.5M?
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The $10 million versus $2 million was a city staff recommendation based on an analysis performed in January 2008. The analysis was not put out to bid in a fashion known as a request for proposals.
It was challenging to write this story in a simplistic enough manner for readers to understand without detracting from the actual meaning. It's a bit easier if you look at the spreadsheet that I was provided. Basically, there is a projected revenue section on the left hand side and all of the expenses (including the two $12 million TIF revitalization projects) on the right hand side. If enough revenue flows in to pay the debt services listed under priority two, funds will THEN be distributed toward the two revitalization projects, but not in lump sums. The city makes no guarantee on the exact amounts of funds distributed in each year, Jim Harlow said.
I hope this helps somewhat. I appreciate everybody's questions. It will be interesting, to say the least, to see what the Independence City Council has to say.
Adrianne; We all can understand the difficulty of reporting a subject as complicated as this. We appreciate your effort. You mention there was a spreadsheet showing the flow of monies. Can you supply us a copy here on the blog? That might prove most helpful in allowing us to grasp this problem.
Talk about a ton of red flags. We need answers. You have done your homework . We need to know the city has done the same. We need all the red flags gone. We need answers now.
Unfortunately, I do not have an electronic copy. I will see if I can scan it in this week, and I will copy it on this blog.
That would be great. We don't need a copy that can be manipulated, so a scanned image will suffice. Thank you very much.