In anticipation of the Board of Estimates discussion this evening, check out what it does to the neighborhoods and what about the school budgets? And check out the changes to another law.
NEIGHBORHOODS
The red is the old district, the orange is the expansion area – or at least one concept of it that Mark Olinger and has been pushing for over a year and now Alder Bridget Maniaci supports (I opposed). There is talk of expanding even more towards East Washington on the east end of the district as well. It seems to me that this is one issue that should be settled before we agree to give the Edgewater $16M in TIF assistance. The larger pdf can be found here or you can click on the picture to make it bigger. This map was shown to the James Madison Park neighborhood last fall, and it wasn’t received favorably. The proponents of this map say that it would help the neighborhoods fix up the rentals in the area and promote homeownership. That only works if people are willing to buy the homes and do the work and the city has a program that works, and given our experiments in Bassettt, I don’t think we have a program that works yet.
What I have never heard explained, is why this was obviously drawn to include the houses in James Madison Park and the Lincoln School. I think this is just another way for certain people to get what they want, despite committee recommendations. Which likely means moving historic homes that both neighborhoods have stated they are against. Meanwhile, the Collins House continues to deteriorate.
SCHOOLS
The second issue is that with the $30M hole in the budget that the Madison Metro School District has, my guess is they could use their share of the taxes from the University Square project ($8 – 10M) that will go to pay off the Edgewater TIF “loan”. The school district is the largest portion of your tax bill collected by the City of Madison and I have to believe this would benefit them.
TONIGHT’S BOARD OF ESTIMATES MEETING – REFERRAL?
There’s just two more things to think about as the Board of Estimates takes up the TIF issue tonight. Word is that they haven’t settled the negotiations yet with the Edgewater, which is why there is no term sheet (or any other information) attached to the agenda and likely why they aren’t going into closed session to discuss that term sheet. If they refer it, they’re either going to have a special meeting in the next 8 days, likely on the same night at Plan Commission is supposed to take their final action (Monday the 22nd) or postpone the rush to get this done by February 23 and likely schedule their special meeting they have scheduled for the 24th.
MORE BACKGROUND ON TIF
Here are some useful links that the City isn’t providing and some work I have done on the issue:
– First Edgewater TIF application
– Second Edgewater TIF application
– Staff analysis (The staff said they’d put this up on the website, but its not here or here.)
– Interesting TIF facts
– TIF questions
There is a lot for the Board of Estimates to consider tonight if they take this issue up in earnest.
IF YOU THINK WE NEED TO DO THIS FOR JOBS
Consider this.
CHANGING MORE LAWS TO ALLOW TIF IN THE FIRST PLACE
Also on their agenda for tonight is the 1965 ordinance and changing it to allow the council to even consider giving them TIF in the first place. When the Edgwater obtained the land on which the 1970s building now sits, the owners made an agreement that they would not get city assistance since they were given the land for $1. (City Staff have claimed there is no record of this, but it seems to be widely accepted.) Here is the original language and the change proposed by Alder Bridget Maniaci:
The objectives enumerated in subparagraphs 1 through 7 above shall be
satisfied by the owner in a manner approved by the City of Madison and at no
cost to the public for use,constructionor maintenance.
The ordinance also allows the building to be built closer to the right of way, which is a contentious issue with the land use planning for this project. They are eliminating this language:
Compliance with yard requirements of existing zoning and building codes or ordinances as to premises on the northeast and southwest sides of said vacated street portion in the same manner as though said street had not been vacated, except that buildings may encroach to not less than 10 feet from the vacated Wisconsin Avenue.
This language is being replaced with this.
Compliance with the sideyard and setback requirements of the Edgewater Hotel Planned Unit Development District as approved by the City of Madison Common Council.
Finally, they are changing this language to allow condos to be built it currently says this.
Nonseverence of ownership or use of the vacated portion of Wisconsin Avenue from the adjacent premises on either side.
And they are adding this:
, except to the extent that the owner shall have the right to sell a unit or units within any building on the adjacent premises as a condominium unit(s) provided that the maintenance of the common areas of the development will remain the responsibility of the owner.
I somehow doubt the discussion will be very extensive this evening, as most have their mind made up to push the ordinance change through and there is still no agreement on the TIF, but just in case there is, I’ll be there!
