Board examines downtown funding

n No decisions were made because the discussions were held in a workshop setting.

Siloam Springs' Board of Directors took an hour to go over some funding options for future downtown improvements before their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

The workshop examined a pair of funding options for setting aside money for grants and projects for the downtown area.

The options were to either create a Central Business Improvement District (CBID) or a Redevelopment District, either of which would be administered by the Board of Directors and have its own dedicated funding.

Either district would function as a "quasi-business," City Administrator Phillip Patterson said.

If chosen, the CBID would be funded by a fee levied on properties in the district as determined by the board. The Redevelopment District would be funded by a tax increment funding (TIF) mechanism. TIF would take most of the increase in collected property taxes and give them to the district for more development.

Either district's funds would be used for programs like street work or grants for building renovations.

"This shifts money that isn't there today and reinvests it tomorrow," Patterson said.

Director Steve Beers clarified that these two mechanisms, the Redevelopment District and the CBID, were approved methods for development.

"This is state-allowed and encouraged," Beers said to Patterson. "You didn't dream this up."

Patterson said the board will need to determine what area geographically fits into the development district. Another issue is the fact that, if approved, the TIF method of funding will take some money away from the Siloam Springs School District and Benton County. Investments could grow taxes to the point that those losses are offset, but city staff has not determined how much development would be needed to reach that point.

Because the presentation was a workshop, no decision was made. Patterson said city staff would keep working on the idea.

During the regular meeting, the board tackled an array of issues. The Board of Directors also:

• appointed Shelley Simmons to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority. Simmons replaces the late M.L. "Moose" Van Poucke, and will represent Siloam Springs on the board along with Art Morris.

• heard a presentation on the closeout of the grant to Sager Creek Foods Inc. The grant was to build a sewer pretreatment facility, and helped create 355 new jobs, according to Cassie Elliott from Visionary Milestones.

• purchased a new sewer cleaning truck. Public Works Director Steve Gorszczyk said the truck will speed up the process of cleaning the city's estimated mile of sewer pipes, replacing a trailer that is currently being used for the task. The trailer will be kept for backup. The truck came in $5 under budget at $324,995.

• approved a budget amendment for the Fire Department to use money from a project that was made redundant by other equipment purchases for building improvements. The improvements include replacing carpeting in a fire station that is posing trip hazards and is no longer Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

• Approved an amendment on an Economic Development with Krish Hospitality. The company, which is building a Holiday Inn Express in Siloam Springs asked for the amendment to give the project more time.

• placed an ordinance setting rental rates for Sager Creek Soccer Complex on its second reading.

• adopted the Finalized Benton County Hazard Mitigation Plan.

• heard a report on the summer reading program at the library. The first summer reading program at the new library saw an increase in readers to 356, up by over 50 on the previous year. The top reader recorded 177 hours of summer reading.

During the director comments portion of the meeting, Director Jerry Cavness said he had received confirmation that Purple Heart signage had been purchased by the city and would be installed soon. The city voted to become a Purple Heart City in June of this year.

General News on 09/25/2016