City approves funds for Pabst interchange
Remaining funds will go to connector road
City of Oconomowoc — The city will partner with Pabst Farms on a $4.65 million roadway that will connect traffic coming from I-94 to the Town Centre shopping center.
In a 6-2 vote Tuesday, the Common Council approved using the remaining $3.7 million in tax incremental financing (TIF) district No. 3 to help construct the roadway; Pabst Farms will provide the remaining $1.6 million. The road will connect the Town Centre to a proposed interchange at Highway P and I-94 to accommodate increased traffic in the area, including the new Aurora Medical Center and other developments. The interchange will cost $25 million, with Pabst contributing $1.75 million and the state Department of Transportation paying the bulk of the cost.
Alderman Bob Morgan voted against the agreement, saying it was a bad deal and that the city has never done something like this for another development.
Alderman Dave Nold countered, saying the city reserved TIF funds for another development, the Briarwood subdivision off Oconomowoc Parkway. "This is not something new, and it will be a main road from Sawyer Road to Highway 67, which is a core development area that could eventually provide hundreds of thousands to millions in tax base that will benefit the whole surrounding area," Nold said. "This is nothing new and something that should have been done five to six years ago."
In earlier private meetings, the city had suggested contributing only $1.5 million of the TIF funds, which Alderman James Larsen argued should be the amount approved Tuesday. However, Alderwoman Cathleen Slattery argued that if the city does not move on this project and Pabst does not break ground in the spring, "it's all on us."
Slattery pointed out that before 2009, Pabst Farms had been paying a commercial assessed value on the dormant farmland. The developer was able to change the designation to agricultural on a condition to the road financing agreement, and it will remain classified as farmland until construction begins on the Town Centre. That designation comes with a deadline because if the TIF is not paid back and closed by 2014, the land will lose its farmland designation and be assessed the following year at fair market value, said Attorney Bill Chapman.
Alderman Jim Hall said the public deserves to know that because of the farmland designation, the city is losing $500,000 in tax revenue each year.
" (I) want to make sure they know what we're doing," Hall said of the potential $2.5 million lost if the district is not closed by 2014.
Earlier in the meeting, the council approved releasing a 19-acre mortgage the city held on the developers since 2002 to ensure the Pabst Farms development would provide enough revenue to pay off TIF No. 3 in time. City Administrator Diane Gard said in spring 2009 that increased property value within the TIF 3 district attributed to residential development, the industrial park and the shopping area anchored by Pick 'n Save was enough that if there was no more development, the TIF would be paid off by 2013. In February 2009, Gard said, the property value within the Pabst TIF was more than $275 million, an incremental value increase of $269.2 million from the base value of $6 million the property was assessed at in 2001 when the district was created.
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MANY HATS - Kathy LaShelle from the Town of Merton tries on a handmade hat from Jo's Feltz at the Delafield Winter Market on Sunday, Jan 15. The market is an indoor farmers market and craft fair located at the Delafield Fish Hatchery on the third Sunday of each month through April.
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1 Comments
The Robert Hunt - Aug 21, 2010 10:21 PM